United Cakedom: Rum & Sultana Fudge

We all know this is suppose to be Rum & Raisin fudge, but in my attempt to use up stuff in my overflowing baking cupboard I thought I would use month-out-of-date sultanas.

At the end of November I posted a review of The Vintage Sweets book by Angel Adoree. In that review I wrote that I intended to make the Rum & Raisin fudge for my girls school Christmas fete.

Then over night I developed tonsillitis and the fudge never materialized. It wasn't the only thing that I had planned to make that didn't get made last month.

I have a lot of catching up to do. Plus, as I already mentioned, I need to clear out my baking cupboard.

I let the sultana’s soak over night, because they aren't as soft as raisins. They are however smaller and didn't need to be chopped.

The first time I ever attempted fudge I gave myself, what looked like a third degree burn. It was pretty bad, so please be careful when working with hot sugar!

I didn't burn myself this time, which was a bonus. That and it turned out smooth and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! So, here is the recipe so you can try it out yourself!

Rum & Raisin Sultana Fudge

50ml dark rum

100g raisins, chopped or sultanas

100g butter

397g can sweetened condensed milk

125ml milk

450g demerara sugar

Soak the raisins/sultanas in the rum and set aside. Then line a square 20cm (8in) cake tin with nonstick baking paper.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large nonstick saucepan and dissolve the sugar over a medium heat. Remove any sugar crystals by placing a lid on the saucepan for 3 minutes. The condensation should run down the sides of the pan taking the sugar crystals with it, if there are any stubborn crystals use a pastry and warm water to wipe them away.

The mixture should be boiling, bring it down to a simmer. Attach your sugar thermometer to the side of the pan. Stir the mixture constantly until it reaches the softball stage, 116C/240F.

Take the pan off the heat and let it cool down to 110C/230F. Then beat it with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes until the mixture is very thick and resembles smooth peanut butter. Angel tells us that this step is vital to make the fudge thick.

It does get quite thick and tough to mix at that point mix in the raisins and any rum that wasn’t soaked up. My sultanas soaked up a lot of rum because I left it overnight, you’ll have more the less you soak it.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth it down with a spatula and leave to sit for at least 3 hours before cutting into squares.