Traditional Scottish Tablet Recipe

I'm half Scottish on my mother's side and in Scotland they have a recipe for a traditional sweetie known as tablet.

It's a little like fudge, but far more crumbly, and so sugary that it dissolves instantly on the tongue when eaten. It's very very moreish but may also cause early onset diabetes so approach this recipe with caution.

I give you...tablet!

Besides the wickedly good taste, the other great thing about tablet is that it is stupidly easy to make, you can whip up a batch in less than 20 minutes. 

It makes a lovely Christmas present too and in previous years, I've put a few squares in festive tins and delivered them to friends and family. This year though, it's just for me!

Step 1) As always, is to assemble your ingredients. Like all my favourite recipes, this one only has a few (good looking) ingredients.

50g Butter, 250ml of whole milk, 1x tin of Carnation condensed milk and enough sugar to sink a battle ship (900g of golden caster).

Step 2) Grab a large pan and combine the butter and the milk until the butter has melted. Slowly tip in your sugar while stirring all the time.

Step 3) Gradually pour in your tin of condensed milk while continuing to stir. Boil for a further 15 minutes, continuing to stir all the time so the sugar doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Be very careful at this stage because boiling sugar has a temperature of around 115°C and should be treated with extreme caution.

Step 4) This step is not really a step but an observation. While boiling, your mixture should turn from a pale gold to a rich caramel colour. When it looks a little something like the picture below, it is time to take it off the heat. A good way to test this is to take a small teaspoon of mixture and drop it into cold water, if you can mould it into a soft ball with the texture of plasticine, it is ready.

Step 5) Step 5 requires some muscle strength. You should take the pan off the heat and beat the mixture very firmly for about 5 minutes until it starts to crystalize. You should be able to feel a thickening of the mixture in the pan to indicate when you have done enough beating.

Step 6) Pour into a tin and leave for a few minutes to cool. Cut into squares and enjoy!

There, didn't I tell you that was easy? Much easier than resisting the temptation to reach for another square at any rate! Good luck!