Scottish Tablet is not as it sounds, something to write on, it is a sweet Scottish, fudge-like, extremely sugary candy. Scottish tablet contains sugar, butter and condensed milk and as you can see in this Scottish Tablet recipe is easy to make. Warning though - it is seriously moreish if you have a sweet tooth.
Important Note: For this recipe you will need a heavy based 4-pint sauce pan but if you have a larger one I recommend using it; the Scottish tablet reaches a rolling boil and sometimes if you have the heat even a fraction too high the mixture can swell up very quickly and boil over. For safety's sake a larger pan will make it safer. This recipe reaches very high temperatures and I recommend you do not make this with children around.
Important Note: For this recipe you will need a heavy based 4-pint sauce pan but if you have a larger one I recommend using it; the Scottish tablet reaches a rolling boil and sometimes if you have the heat even a fraction too high the mixture can swell up very quickly and boil over. For safety's sake a larger pan will make it safer. This recipe reaches very high temperatures and I recommend you do not make this with children around.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 pint/500ml water
- 8oz/225g butter, chopped into pieces
- 4 lbs/1.8kg super fine/caster sugar
- 1lb/450g of condensed milk
- Optional
- Flavorings as desired***
Preparation:
- Butter a 12" x 4"/30cm x 10cm or 7"/18cm square tin.
- In your saucepan (see note above) heat the water to a low simmer then add the butter. Stir until melted. Add the sugar and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Raise the heat to high and bring the sugar to a hard boil for 5 minutes (the mixture should boil really fiercely which helps to reduce the liquid and colour the mixture) stirring all the time to prevent the sugar from sticking and burning. If you have a thermometer take the temperature to 120°C/ 250°F (also known as hard ball stage in candy and toffee making).
- Once the sugar is boiling, slowly add the condensed milk - TAKE CARE - the sugar is at a very high temperature and may splatter. Stir well then lower the heat and simmer for 20 mins. The mixture will bubble and resemble a moon crater, but don't be put off, keep cooking. The mixture will also start to slightly darken.
- After twenty minutes or once the mixture is visibly thickened, remove the pan from the stove and beat the mixture vigorously for 5 - 10 mins, add any optional flavorings (see note below).
- Pour into the greased pan and when the tablet is cool but still soft, cut into 1" squares - you can even put the pan in the freezer to make sure it is completely cold.
- Wrap in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin.
