Two polar opposites made with the same ingredient this week, Weightwatchers chocolate mousse and the other a full on fat fest with a sugar chaser, FUDGE!  I opened a tin of condensed milk for the Weightwatchers mousse recipe only to discover I needed a mere thimbleful of the stuff and was left with more or less a full tin with no plans for its consumption.  The mousse was very good but with enough condensed milk leftover to make mousse for 10 neighbours and their dogs I needed a different recipe pronto.  I don’t know how long an open tin will last for, despite the fact I took to eating some of it with a dessert spoon, I still had a lot left.  So after peering at recipe after recipe for cheesecakes, coconut ice (which was a contender) and more cheesecakes I decided fudge was the easiest solution as I had all the ingredients to hand and didn’t need to trail around Sainsbury’s looking for organic grass fed, no preservatives, reduced salt, gluten free paelo wafers or some such nonsense (ingredient lists can be like that!).

There you have it, a simple fudge recipe with a few little added extras including pecan and maple nut butter and chopped medjool dates.  A little chunk of niceness x

Creamy Fudge with pecan and maple nut butter and medjool dates

397g tin of condensed milk

150mls of milk

450g demerara sugar

115g butter

2tbsp pecan and almond nut butter (I used Keen)

7-10 chopped dates

150g chopped pecans

20cm square tin lined with baking parchment

Method

Place the ingredients in a large non-stick saucepan and melt over a low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes stirring continuously and scraping the bottom of the pan.  Check with a sugar thermometer that the mixture has reached 118 degrees or  you can use the soft ball method to check if the fudge is ready by dropping a little of the mixture into a jug of iced water.  If it forms a ball then it’s ready.  Remove from the heat and beat the fudge until very thick and starts to set.  Before the mixture gets too thick add the nut butter and chopped dates.  You can either add the chopped pecans now or squidge them on top of the fudge mixture once poured into the tin.  Leave to cool and set then cut into squares and enjoy!

About Sharon Duffin Photography

Professional photographer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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