This fudge is great. You have all the ingredients in the house already and don't need to go to the corner shop in the rain looking for a large tin of condensed milk as you would for most other fudges. You can make it right now as long as you've got a sugar thermometer or don't mind taking a risk.Makes enough for 2 last-minute Christmas Eve gift bags
350g golden cater sugar
300ml whole milk (would probably work with semi-skimmed too)
100g butter
few drops of vanilla extract
1 Place the milk, sugar and butter in a pan and heat gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves. You get a better end texture if you make sure all the sure has dissolved before you start to boil the mixture.
2 Bring to the boil and bubble vigorously for 20 minutes, stirring regularly until it reaches past 116C on the sugar thermometer. This is the soft ball stage, if you don't have a thermometer, drop a spot into a cup of cold water and see if sets squidgily for you.
3 Turn off the heat and beat in the vanilla extract, keep stirring for about 5 minutes until the fudge starts to thicken.Pour into a buttered or lined non-stick tin (I used a small square one but it depends on how thick you want your fudge).
4 Leave it to set for a few hours, if you remember, mark out the little squares with a knife before it's fully set - we forgot to so the surface wrinkled a little but was otherwise fine. Cut into squares, pack into gift boxes or cellophane bags.
