Autumn Spiced Fudge...

It's getting colder, but still sunny -pretty darn perfect in my book as it's cardi weather without being sweaty, I can drink endless cups of tea and cover the old gnarly legs up. In fact the only sad bit for me about the end of summer is having to pack my sandals away...but I'm working on a comedy-sock-solution to that little problem.

Anyway, the other weekend was the annual cider-pressing at a lovely friend's house. Tons of apples, hand squashed and turned into some mighty-fine juice needed some fudge to nibble on. I found the basic recipe on the Carnation website and then doctored it with spices...

The Basic How To:

The best kitchen purchase I made this year was a sugar thermometer for jam making. It works for candy recipes too and for the sake of three quid I'd really recommend you buy one as it takes the guess work out of setting points and stops burnt fingers and tongues!


You will need:
A 397g can of condensed milk;
150ml milk
450g demerara sugar
115g butter

Then I added:
A tsp (heaped) of cinnamon;
1/2 tsp ground cloves;
1/2 tsp allspice
A good grate of nutmeg (or 1/2tsp if pre-ground)

Line a 20cm square tin with baking parchment.

In a heavy based pan add the milk and the spices and warm through. This makes your kitchen smell fab and the spices sort of go a bit toasty before the hot sugar gets going.

Add all the other ingredients and stir. Keep stirring, you honestly can't stir enough at this point. Don't check your e-mail or answer the phone or you'll get burnt bits and that sucks.

Once it boils (looks like a mini volcano), turn it down and simmer for 10-15 mins until it reaches 118 degrees C (or sticky enough to form a ball when blobbed on a chilled saucer). Yep, keep stirring.

When it's at optimum temp, turn off the heat and keep stirring until it thickens and begins to look like dough. At this point put in your tin. Cool tip -thwack the tin base on the sideboard to even out the fudge  and prevent a sticky mess when trying to spread it out.

Leave to cool (tempting I know) then when it is set, turn out and cut into chunks (uneven is best, squares are a bit tidy!).

Eat. (sharing optional)