Maple Russian Fudge

Maple Russian Fudge

For someone who has “quit sugar” the desire for sweetness is rare these days. Last night though, I had a strong idea that Russian Fudge was what I was hankering for. At least this type of sweet craving means I need to get up, create the food, wait for it to cool before getting to eat it. Is that slightly better than just buying a block of chocolate and over eating that? Probably not in the scheme of the Universe but at the micro-level of the distance between my couch and the stove it seemed to count for a lot.

I Googled for a Russian Fudge recipe and landed on Chelsea Sugar’s version. The butter was already melting into the mountain of sugar in the saucepan before I realised there wasn’t any Golden Syrup in the pantry. Another side effect of the low-to-no sugar lifestyle means sweet staples aren’t replaced as they run out. What to do, what to do?

So this is how I changed the recipe to still statisfy my craving and it turned out great. If you try it, I hope it works great for you too.

NOTE: Don’t rush, no kids around, be prepared - sugar melts at a high temperature and burns human skin with ferocity. Use all the Cautions and Carefuls.

Equipment:

  • Candy themometer
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste (add before beating)
  • 20cm square cake tin
  • Electric hand beater

Ingredients:

  • 3.5 cups sugar
  • 123 g butter
  • 0.5 cup milk
  • 100 g Condensed Milk
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 0.5 tsp salt

Steps:

  1. Grease cake tin with butter. 
  2. Grind a light-medium sprinkle of salt into the bottom of the cake tin.
  3. Put a heavy bottomed saucepan on a medium heat.
  4. Add and melt together the sugar, butter, milk, maple syrup, brown sugar, and salt to the saucepan.
  5. Gently bring to the boil and add candy thermometre.
  6. Stir continuously until the thermometer reads 120 degrees Celcius - the soft ball stage.
  7. Remove from heat and transfer saucepan to heat proof surface (wooden chopping board is best)
  8. Leave for five minutes to cool down slightly before stirring in the vanilla.
  9. Using the electric hand beater, mix until mixture looks creamy and thick and has lost some of its gloss.
  10. Pour into prepared cake tin and leave on chopping board to slowly cool.

These cubes of caramelly sugar really do hit the spot

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