Honey Fudge

[Erichalfbee]

Whatever recipe you use you need to heat it to soft ball, 113 C then let it cool off the heat without stirring for eight to ten minutes before whisking or beating till it gets grainy. Your fudge should set enough to cut in half an hour.
My tabletty fudge starts setting as I pour it....I have to be quick.
Try reheating and bringing it up to 113C again.

 

[Tremyfro]

I have never heard of tablet.....but it seems from the photos that it is what I have always known as 'fudge'......no wonder I am confused when we go to the big agricultural shows and everyone is advertising 'fudge' but it looks like soft chewy toffee. .....I have such a long list now of 'must try this'....I long for my OH to finish my kitchen!

 

[Luka22]

Whatever recipe you use you need to heat it to soft ball, 113 C then let it cool off the heat without stirring for eight to ten minutes before whisking or beating till it gets grainy.

I had it at 115 C but, I did not cool it off instead I stirred it for about 10 minutes straight away. So there must be my mistake. I have 2 small pots, one went into the fridge, but not a lot of change, so I guess after now about 6 hours I can say it did not work... well I suppose I have made the first fudge you can actually eat with a spoon. And you think I could take it out of the pot and put it back into a pan and re-heat to 115 C ? Will it not burn straight away?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have successfully reheated unset fudge, just take it slowly and use a non stick pan. It's worth a try.
Otherwise make a good old fashioned steamed pudding with it. Good thick layer of fudge, then your sponge, steam for 2 hours or half an hour in a pressure cooker,turn out, add ice cream.........wonderful!!!

 

[itma]

I have never heard of tablet.....but it seems from the photos that it is what I have always known as 'fudge'......no wonder I am confused when we go to the big agricultural shows and everyone is advertising 'fudge' but it looks like soft chewy toffee. .....

There are lots of different toffees, but chewiness is a defining characteristic.
Tablet and fudge are more 'melting' than lastingly chewy.
Tablet is harder and stronger than fudge, which should be near crumbly (at least in comparison).

Pictures offer a very incomplete comparison!

 

[oliver90owner]

Beware of using absolute temperature readings; they may not be as 'absolute' as you might think.

Not all jam thermometers are equal and some are easily a degree or two in error. Not a problem once you know and take it into account.

I have several temperature measuring sticks and only two agree at twenty degrees Celsius. My -5 to +50 mercury in-glass laboratory thermometer and my pH meter (both of which are spot on in pure melting ice). Both my STC1000 digis need calibrating (0.6 & 1.1 too low) if I were to use them accurately; they are only for winemaking, so I can simply live with the errors. A couple of 'cheapo' alcohol-in-glass are about a degree in variance to my standards. My L*dl jam maker is close enough at 45 degrees C.

Not checked the jam thermometer as that has not been used for some time. I anticipate it will have an error..... a couple of degrees can make a considerable difference to fudge and fondant.

RAB

 

[seaknight]

Thank you for sharing this recipe, I tried it last night using Morrisons 99p clear honey and it worked well, it's really nice!
Seasons Greetings

1 kg golden caster sugar
1 heaped tablespoon dark soft brown sugar
1 tin (397 g) condensed milk
100 ml gold top milk
pinch of salt
300 g organic wildflower honey
75 g unsalted organic butter

Brown sugar, condensed milk and gold top heated gently in large heavy bottomed pan until sugar dissolved. Caster sugar then added and process repeated. Then salt and honey added before boiling to soft-ball stage (114-116°C), taken off heat for a few minutes before butter (chopped into a few pieces) stirred in. Mixture then beaten for 5 minutes until starting to granulate and then poured into lined baking tray and allowed to set.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Thank you for sharing this recipe, I tried it last night using Morrisons 99p clear honey and it worked well, it's really nice!

The Morrisons 99p clear honey is very popular, and appears to be a good quality honey.

 

[bontbee]

Beware of using absolute temperature readings; they may not be as 'absolute' as you might think.

Not all jam thermometers are equal and some are easily a degree or two in error. RAB

I gave up using a jam thermometer for this very reason - all the fudge I made was like tablet - or didn't set at all... Now I just do it by eye until it looks near enough, then drop some into cold water to see if it's ready. It's just about perfect every time, now - an almost crumbling, melting texture, and an attractive pale colour.

 

[youngyoungs]

Made this recipe and first time, it came out beautifully, nice smooth tablet. However, 2nd and 3rd attempts have come out much softer and quite noticably sugary/crystalised. Thought that I had disolved caster before soft ball stage but the end result is rather disappointing. Any obvious mistakes that I'm making? has anyone else encountered the same?

In a post Christmas idle moment I had a go at this. My first attempt came out looking like tablet according to the photos (thanks) but with a noticeable crystal on tasting. The overall taste is excellent. I kept half as is, and reheated the remainder. Now more chewy, but still with the crystals. It will all get eaten, (little doesn't in our house), but I would like to achieve a smoother finish. Where am I going wrong?

 

[farbee]

My -5 to +50 mercury in-glass laboratory thermometer and my pH meter (both of which are spot on in pure melting ice).

Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick but how are you using a pH meter to measure temperature? Certainly novel based on my knowledge.

 

[bontbee]

with a noticeable crystal on tasting.

I think you may not be dissolving all the sugar before boiling. You need to heat and stir for quite a long time, (it takes about 20 mins for me...) so that the mixture is smooth, ie. with absolutely no"grittiness", before boiling. My finished product used to have noticeable crystals in it most of the time, until I used this method - now it is smooth and creamy every time.

It is boring, standing by the stove stirring, but it works! Good luck.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I think you may not be dissolving all the sugar before boiling
Good luck.

That's exactly it.
Add the sugar a very little at a time and over a low heat stir till dissolved before adding any more and finally getting to soft ball. You don't need to maintain this temperature for any length of time. Once reached take the pot away from the heat and time 10 minutes.
I think the sugar makes a significant difference too. Billington golden caster has quite large crystals compared to Whitworths which is much finer and is the one I use. You must remember to not stir AT ALL in the ten minutes you have the fudge cooling before you beat/whisk it otherwise it will be too chewy.

 

[Kaz]

I know this is an old thread but I have just stumbled on it when searching for a good honey fudge recipe. I've made the recipe according to drstitson, and it has turned out lovely and smooth, BUT (and this is probably a really stupid question based on my non- consumption of fudge generally) is it supposed to be so sweet?? It's just like eating honey with added sugar... waaaay too sweet for me, and yet strangely moreish

Before I get ready to gift little packages to family and friends please reassure me... 1kg sugar does seem a lot!?

 

[enrico]

I have to say all that sweet stuff would give me a high and I have a sweet tooth! Never tried it!

 

[Murox]

I know this is an old thread but I have just stumbled on it when searching for a good honey fudge recipe. I've made the recipe according to drstitson, and it has turned out lovely and smooth, BUT (and this is probably a really stupid question based on my non- consumption of fudge generally) is it supposed to be so sweet?? It's just like eating honey with added sugar... waaaay too sweet for me, and yet strangely moreish

Before I get ready to gift little packages to family and friends please reassure me... 1kg sugar does seem a lot!?

You should try some scottish 'Tablet', now that is really sweet.

A basic Tablet recipe from the web.

• 900g granulated white sugar (4.5 cups or 2lb. Yes, that much sugar!)
• 250ml of full-fat milk (1 cup)
• 1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (397g tin)
• 85g butter (6tbsp)

 

[Kaz]

You should try some scottish 'Tablet', now that is really sweet.

A basic Tablet recipe from the web.

• 900g granulated white sugar (4.5 cups or 2lb. Yes, that much sugar!)
• 250ml of full-fat milk (1 cup)
• 1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (397g tin)
• 85g butter (6tbsp)

That's pretty much the same as this fudge recipe, but the fudge has 300g of honey added, so even sweeter than the tablet recipe!?

 

[Norton Caff]

Just picked up on this thread. People were talking about large crystals. An excellent tip from my Time Life Confectionery book recommends soft ball at 114 degrees C but cooling to 50 degrees before beating. The sugar forms smaller crystals. I use this method and rather than grainy tablet you get a lovely soft fudge.

 

[Pembroke]

That's pretty much the same as this fudge recipe, but the fudge has 300g of honey added, so even sweeter than the tablet recipe!?

If you're adding honey which is a liquid, to a recipe that was written for sugar make sure you remove some of the other liquid, in this case milk. Or you'll end up with a mixture that either takes a very long time to each the correct temperature or the fudge won't set.

 

[Mabee]

I made a rather horrible honey fudge from an old Good Housekeeping book. I did consider feeding it to the bees until I remembered i’d heated the sugar too much for them.