Gingerbread Fudge!

Hello and happy Sunday to you!

I am aware it's only mid-November, so if you're currently denying the existence of mince pies, twinkle-lights and all other signs of Christmas, look away now.

CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Still with me?

Okay, good!

Now then, I'm still working on festive products right now and this week (in between soaking fruit in various alcoholic fluids and 'feeding' the cooked one with brandy), my focus has been fudge. Cadbury may have declared that 'a finger of fudge is just enough' but as it turns out, they lied. Anyway, why have I been working on fudge? Well, firstly because it is THE most fun confection to make. And secondly because I've had the idea in my head for a few weeks now to make a gingerbread-flavoured fudge. Doesn't it sound good!?

Well, as it turns out, fudge is no different from any other recipe I try. The first attempt is duty-bound to go a bit wrong, as you can see from this pic of the 'fudge dust' that happened when I cut it!

Surprisingly, it actually taste pretty good! Although there wasn't enough spice in it for my liking and it was (obviously) overcooked. Damn and back to the beginning again!

This time, I was prepared to turn the heat off a little sooner. Here's the issue: the first key step to getting fudge right is to heat it to the correct temperature. You want to get it to the 'soft ball' stage (wherein you waste a hearty globule of delicious fudge by dripping it into very cold water and hope it holds its shape). This, they tell me, happens at 118 degrees C. Well, they lied, as it turns out because the second time around, it only worked at 108 degrees C.

It has a few good shakes of Christmassy spices in it, to give it that dark, spicy warmth you get in a really great gingerbread. SO good!!

 

 In the future, I intend to offer this as a product available for purchase, which would be great as I could post it anywhere in the UK! Woohoo! But there are new labelling laws that, quite frankly, confuse me and I need to sort that out first. So, watch this space and I'll let you know as soon as I can offer it for postal deliveries! In the meantime, if you're local to the Poole and Bournemouth area, a perfect pack of fudge can be yours now for the cheap, cheap price of £1.50 a pack! Just drop me an email to thebuttercupbaker@gmail.com if you're interested. 

Next week, I hope to tell you all about the successes of my Christmas cakes AND there are exciting things afoot, so stay tuned, food fans!