Easy caramel fudge

Before telling you about this sticky sweet fudge, I want to thank everyone who commented on the post about our boys.  Thank you to those who sent kind thoughts and to those who shared their own stories.  It all means a lot to us.  In fact I wish I could share some of this fudge with you.  I made it for the lunch to remember our boys.  Instead I will share with you some stories about Sylvia which are just as sweet. 

Experience of how fragile young life is, makes me ever appreciative of the joy that Sylvia brings to us.  She makes us smile with the things she says - "Can I look in the mirror to see if I look pretty?" or "Will you look after me when dadda's head is chopped off?" (that is a reference to the song, Oranges and Lemons!) or "You go to nursery and I'll go to work."  It amuses when she sings "London bridge is falling down, I better fix it".  She makes me laugh when she walks around the house in my shoes or talks about the birds eating lollypops or tells me she is a pussy cat and bites at her claws just like our cat Zinc does.

Tonight I found her planting the carrot sticks in a tub of hummus.  She told me it was a birthday cake.  Moments like these I love kids' imaginations.  But they can also be tricky to manage.  I gave her some seeded crackers earlier.  She told me that Dolly couldn't eat them because they have peanuts in them and make her sick.  The Sylvia starts to eat them herself.  It makes me wonder how much she understands her peanut allergy.  Perhaps it has been on her mind since we had carrot cake recently that I was ready to share out with Sylvia until I noticed that the nuts on the frosting were peanuts!

Back to the fudge.  I decided to make a butterscotch fudge on the weekend.  E loves fudge and is always asking for me to make butterscotch cake.  Fudge is also gluten free for the celiacs in the family.  Every butterscotch fudge recipe seemed full of butterscotch chips, which are not easy to find here.  I did however find a caramel fudge.

It was an easy recipe to make.  Just mix for 10 minutes on the stovetop.  No need for a candy thermometer and soft ball tests and all those dangers and challenges that I avoid.  Even better, it was full of condensed milk.  As an aside, I have been experimenting with making soy condensed milk tonight (more on that later), so I think a vegan version might well be possible. 

I was still paranoid enough to make sure I was well prepared with the tin lined with paper, Sylvia asleep in bed, the cat sunning herself on the shed roof and a good CD on repeat before starting to stir the fudge mixture for 10 minutes.  Just as well.  It was a long time to stand stirring the pot.  The mixture bubbled away like a volcano.  Too hot to taste.  Not so hot that it spat liquid everywhere.  But it needed constant attention.  As the recipe indicated, it set quickly.  I didn't have time to get it quite a smooth as I would have liked on top.

E's first reaction was that it was sweeter than any fudge he'd had.  The texture has that slight sandiness that fudge often has.  The flavour is the caramel of a cooked tin of condensed milk with a touch of golden syrup.  I cut it into small pieces.  One or two is plenty.  One or two is fantastic.  You can't go wrong with condensed milk.  Everyone enjoyed it at the lunch on the weekend and we still have lots of it left in the fridge.  I expect that there will be requests to make this fudge again and again.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe
This time last year: GF Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
This time two years ago: The Cornbread that Stops a Nation
This time three years ago: Chocolate cake for our boys
This time four years ago: A Break in Beechworth

Easy Caramel Fudge
From Bundaberg Sugar
Makes 60 small pieces

125g butter
1½ cups brown sugar - not packed
2 tablespoons golden syrup
395g can condensed milk
180g white cooking chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup shelled, unsalted pistachio nuts (optional - I didn't use)

Line a small slice tin (28cm x 18cm x 3cm) with baking paper.

Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add brown sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk.  Bring to the boil over a medium heat.  Reduce to a low heat and cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until smooth.  When you add the chocolate, the fudge will set quickly.  Pour into prepared tin immediately and spread evenly with the back of a spoon.

Cool to room temperature for at least 30 minutes.  Once set, cut into small pieces with a clean hot knife (I had to clean my knife under hot water a few times while cutting up the fudge).  Keep in fridge.  Ours has lasted a week and is still good.

On the stereo:
Pulp Hits: Pulp