Vanilla Fudge
I love making vanilla fudge almost as much as I enjoy eating it and this recipe always goes down well at parties and special occasions. It’s not something I make often these days as I can’t justify making more than a couple of batches over the festive period and eating too much of it will definitely cause me to go up a knicker size!
When the children were younger and had birthday parties, I always made a batch then too, which went down well with both the children and the parents alike…Although the exceedingly high sugar content in the fudge probably caused children to bounce off walls once they got home.
This recipe makes approximately one kilogram of vanilla fudge, which is plenty because believe me a little goes a long way. Coming up to Christmas I always make one batch for the family and another one or two batches for friends and for people who we would like to give a little something to.
When giving it as a gift, I wrap it as neatly as possible in parchment paper, secure it with a piece of narrow ribbon or a piece of natural twining and pop it into a small gift bag. It never fails to impress.
Word Of Warning…
This Vanilla fudge is bad! If not consumed with care it will add inches to the waist line and it will rot teeth…Which is why I limit fudge making to Christmas and special occasions.
Make sure you have all of your utensils ready at hand before starting to follow this recipe for vanilla fudge. You will need:
- Large, heavy bottomed saucepan (4 liters at least).
- Small cup or bowl of cold water.
- Pastry brush.
- Sugar thermometer or another small bowl of cold water.
- Wooden spoon.
- An eight inch baking tin lined with baking parchment.
- Time (you can’t rush making fudge and you need to be hands on).
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 1 Kilogram | 10 Minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 40 - 50 Minutes | 2 Hours |
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This vanilla fudge recipe is a firm family favourite. It's soft and wraps around the teeth, just as a good fudge should.
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- 900 gr granulated sugar
- 225 gr butter I prefer to use salted.
- 340 ml tin of evaporated milk Full fat is best.
- 1/4 of the milk tin cold water Approximately.
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract You can use the seeds of a vanilla pod if you prefer.
- Rinse out the saucepan with cold water - shake out any excess water, do not dry.
- Put all of the ingredients into the pan and put pan on the stove over a low heat, stirring occasionally until the butter and sugar have melted.
- Once the butter and sugar have melted turn the heat up and bring the mixture to the boil. At this point you must keep stirring to prevent it from burning. You can turn the heat down a touch, but keep that mixture rolling.
- The mixture will thicken and turn deep golden in colour. You want the mixture to reach approximately 114C/ 238F (soft ball stage). *If you don't have a sugar thermometer, you can judge the temperature the good old fashioned way: remove the pan from the heat and drop a small amount of the fudge mixture into a small bowl of cold water. Wait for thirty seconds, the mixture should form a soft ball that gives when squeezed between your finger and thumb. If it doesn't then continue boiling the fudge, rechecking every minute or so as it doesn't take long to reach temperature once it's nearly there.
- Once the mixture has reached 114C/ 238F (softball stage). Remove the pan from the heat and leave it for two minutes to cool slightly.
- Then beat vigorously until the mixture thickens and is no longer smooth.
- Empty the fudge from the pan into the lined baking tin and smooth out roughly, using a fork or the back of a spoon.
- Allow to cool for a bit, before lifting the fudge out of the tin using the tin lining.
- Cut into pieces (some may break as the fudge is quite brittle). Leave to cool totally on a wire rack before putting into an airtight container.
- Enjoy and don't forget to brush your teeth properly afterwards!
Cooking time for this fudge can vary depending on the heat you cook on; the higher the heat the faster it will reach temperature, but it also increases the chances of burning the mixture.
When stirring the mixture make sure you get right to the edge of the pan as I find this is where it tends to catch. If in doubt turn the heat down and if it does catch slightly you will notice small dark flecks in the mixture. Don't worry too much they do not alter the taste of the fudge (as long as it hasn't burned too badly!).
Always be extra careful when making sweets and candy as sugar gets incredibly hot when in liquid form and can cause horrific burns. It's probably best to keep young children out of the kitchen when making fudge.
© 2014 – 2017, Debbie. All rights reserved.
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