And this is why this post took so long!
Fudge
You probably can’t believe this is actually getting up here. Neither can I frankly! Between 186 mini cheesecakes, (go ahead and count ‘em if you like!) and my habit of scribbling notes whilst cooking away, yes, I threw this little gem out with the dish water somewhere! So sadly I had to do it all again, to the horror of the waistline…still all in a good cause!
Traditional fudge to me involves hours of stirring over the hot stove, but all with the possibility of the soft ball test going horribly wrong, and me getting to eat the failed results! This is my mothers recipe that has been handed down to, well…me and it wasn’t until I lived in the States that I realized there was another name for it; Penuche or if you are from Scotland, Scottish Tablet, which actually has a grainier texture and frankly is inferior (unless you are Scottish and reading this!)
The Thermomix makes this so easy, a little time consuming nonetheless, but not in the way you may think, no slaving over a hot stove. You simply need to be around whilst cooking this in order to reset the timing. It comes out beautiful and creamy and there are no aching arms in sight from beating the syrup after cooking. So fire up the Thermomix and get ready to get fudged, again and again and no doubt again!
NEED:
1 tin condensed milk (350g)
550g sugar
150g unsalted butter
120g golden syrup
90g warm water
generous splash vanilla essence
DO:
Place all ingredients except vanilla into TM bowl and cook for 10 minutes at 70oC on speed 2.5 until sugar is dissolved with MC off.
Cook a further 40 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 2.5 with MC on. Beat for 1 minute at speed 7.
Do the soft ball test at this stage just to see what is happening.
Cook a further hour at Varoma temperature on speed 2.5, with MC off. You must be careful, if the mixture is bubbling up and spitting too much, leave the MC in. Test again. If holding soft ball, beat for 2 minutes by bringing speed up slowly to around speed 8. Add vanilla through hole in lid.
Pour into large buttered tin and allow to cool for hours and hours and hours. Don’t be tempted to refrigerate to speed it up, just let it cool on the bench! The core temperature of the fudge will definitely take hours so don’t say I didn’t warn you! Now just for all those who have commented below, this is the rewrite, retested version and definitely works. H0wever, DO NOT substitute any low fat, margarine, products…Fudge is meant to be decadent and this version really works. Let me know! 
Cut and enjoy, (and then make another batch for everyone else!)
I remember cooking tablet as a bairn – my mother is Scottish. Thanks, we’ll give it a try.
Looks and sounds fab will make for my boys. great job with the cheesecakes by the way.
All those cheesecakes! Yikes, you’ve been busy. But that’s a good thing, right? Yum fudge.
if you need an assitant to stir the pot for hours.. u can call me. im more than happy to help.
p/s: i wont steal ur food, i promise >.<
I’m so glad you’ve developed this recipe for the Thermomix – I’ll have to try it (and just not eat too much!) When I was a kid, fudge making was my ‘thing’, and Penuche was my favourite one. (I won 2nd prize in the Cairns show when I was in grade 2 for my fudge!) Don’t make candy too much these days, but this one I could make an exceptiong for! (Except I think I’ll try Rapadura for the sugar.)
Hi, tried making the fudge but it turned out like toffee. Very similar to pascal’s columbines very chewy but still good. Not sure where i went wrong because i followed the recipe with my Thermomix.
Natalie, the fudge needed cooking longer if it turned out like a toffee, hope you still ate it!!
Hi Tenina
I followed the recipe, but no matter how long I cooked it (in the TMX) it didn’t reach soft ball status. I think I cooked it for about 3 hours trying to get it there. Eventually I gave up, and just left it to set, but it never hardened properly. It was like thick treacle-y toffee.
Any ideas? I would like to try it again sometime.
Caroline
OK Natalie and Caroline…because of you guys, I have to make this again…what a shame! I will make sure I post any changes to the recipe, I honestly had no problems, despite the lengthy process, so back to the drawing board! Sorry…hope you at the stuff anyway, or at least had it over ice cream!
Hi Tenina,
I tried this last night. After 3 hours I transferred mixture to a saucepan and brought it up to soft-ball stage using a sugar thermometer, which was very quick. Then poured it into baking dish and left it to set overnight. It is delicious sticky creamy toffee, set enough to cut with a knife, but not set like fudge. I should say I had the TMX for 3 days now, but did follow the recipe closely.
Nicola
Going down stairs to try this…stay tuned for any changes…there should be no substitutions used in this recipe, ie full cream condensed milk, butter and full amounts of everything…so here goes!
All good with this recipe folks, so try, try again, and remember, NO substitutes!