DIY Scottish Tablet

Having lived in Scotland for 5 years now I wanted to bring my friends a little scottish treat when I met them for dinner and a christmas catch-up. Unfortunately these didn't make it to them because the mixture didn't cool in time (I have incredibly poor time perception sometimes) but I bagged them up and will hand them out to our lucky neighbours!

Scottish tablet is similar to fudge and, if you're feeling creative, you can add all sorts of flavours to them! I kept mine plain but added some festive sparkle with some sprinkles from Waitrose.

To make 25 - 35 pieces of tablet you will need:

1/2 pint whole milk

350g unsalted butter

1lb caster sugar

150g sweetened condensed milk

Using a large pan, heat the milk and melt the butter into the hot milk. Before the water reaches the boil, add and dissolve the sugar. make sure you stir often!

Bring the mixture to the boil and then allow to simmer. When simmering, add the condensed milk. the mixture will be a very light, creamy colour.

Stirring (very) often - pretty much constantly - allow the mixture to thicken until it is a deep caramel colour, don't panic if there are little brown specs that appear in the mixture - this happened to me and they disappear when you stir. 

The texture/consistency of the mixture will change quickly after around 20mins, maybe as long as 30mins from a watery simmer to a thicker bubbling. (the colour may also darken quickly at this point). 

To test that the mixture is ready, drop a little onto a cold side plate, it should not run and should be thick and sticky after 30 seconds. If you have a jam thermometer you need to aim for the Soft Ball temperature at about 235 degrees.

Once it is ready, remove from the heat and beat the mixture with an electric whisk for about 5 minutes or by hand for about 10 minutes.

Pour the mixture into two shallow trays (about 10" by 6") and allow to cool for about 30 minutes before slicing and enjoying! 

What are your favourite sweet treats? Do you make your friends presents at Christmas or do you buy yours?

If you make the tablet make sure you tweet me @lucylouharvey and show me how it came out!