How hard is it to make home made fudge or another home made gift?

[chloemegjess]

Hi. I would love to make some home made fudge or something for Christmas, as a little extra gift. BUT I am not fantastic at cooking and don't have stacks of spare time.

My main questions are:

• Is it expensive once you have bought all the ingredients etc?
• Is it time consuming? Roughly?
• Can anybody do it or is it quite skillfull? I am not awful at cooking, as long as I have a guideline to work from but not fantastic!

fudge recipe keep linking to this but it is really easy, not too expensive to make. takes half hour from prep to pouring into the tin. have a go

on cost - 2 lots has made up 18 bags here but my cellophane bags are quite small but even my bigger bags i get 12 bags for same quantity. oh, i use a tray that is prob 9in long, 5in wide, 1/2in deep rather than what is specified.

Fab thank you. I think I will go for it as long as I am better soon (we are all ill at the mo and can't even go to the shop).

Might have to borrow a tray from my Mum as we don't really have anything suitable. Not a problem though.

Chloe, This fudge recipe is sooooo easy and quick to make and you my have the ingredients in your cupboard already.

It makes a crumbly fudge rather like a butter tablet. Friends I have given some too for Xmas gifts have been asking for the recipe as they like it so much

• 100g (4oz) milk chocolate,broken up
• 100g (4oz) butter, melted
• 450g (1lb) icing sugar
• 45ml (3tbsp) milk
• a few drops of vanilla

Place the chocolate into a glass heatproof bowl and heat on medium for 2-3 minutes. Stop the cooking time and stir every 30 seconds or so, until just melted.

Add the butter, icing sugar, essence and milk, mix well.

Heat on high for 3-4 minutes, take out of the microwave and beat well every minute.

The mixture and bowl will be very hot, so take care.

When the mixture starts to set around the edges of the bowl and becomes thicker, it's ready to pour into a greased, 20cm x 15cm (8" x 6") dish.

Allow to set for a few minutes before marking into squares using a knife, and leave to cool before removing from the tin.

Meant to add... You make it in the Microwave!

Wow Pigleypudding, that does sound easy. I actually have all the ingredients for your one, as long as I can find the icing sugar, I have a new pack somewhere.

Although actually, it might be white chocolate I have got in the house. So might still have to go to the shop after all.

Can I hijack a wee bit please? I've left it too late to buy bags for fudge etc online and live quite far from the nearest Lakeland. What else do all you enterprising christmas bakers use to put your goodies in? Really annoyed with myself for leaving it so late as I'd always planned on making stuff but everyone ill here and I'm behind by about a week! All ideas very welcome thanks x

the main difficulty with making fudge is not eating it all.

Bonny - I don't have anything either so good question! I have cheap sandwih bag but won't look nice in them, would like something to look presentable so any ideas welcome!

Can you get some card and make some little boxes? Could get the dcs to decorate. Or you could buy small gift boxes from a card shop.

Can i ask? With homemade fudge how long does it keep for if you were giving it as a gift?

The Nigella recipe suggest you keep it in the freezer so, ages I guess! Also it's so sugary that again, ages I guess!

Coming away from the fudge, I have made a big batch of homemade gingerbread with my kiddies, sooooooo easy, keeps for a couple of weeks, and we have given away a load of it today, wrapped up in baking paper and tied with a ribbon and it looks and tastes so great, everyone has been thinking I am some sort of domestic Goddess...which of course I am!
150g butter, 200g golden syrup, 200g treacle, 125g muscovado, 2 teaspoons fresh ginger (we didn't have any and it still tastes great), 1 tsp ground ginger (we added a bit more), 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp bicarb dissolved in 2 tblspoons warm water, 250ml milk, 2 eggs, 300g plain flour.
Melt butter, sugar, syrup, treacle and spices in saucepan.
Mix together milk, eggs and dissolved bicarb.
Add to sugary mix.
Add to flour and mix like crazy.
Pour very liquid batter into lined (greaseproof or baking paper) roasting tin! Approx 30cm x 20 x 5.
Cook for 45mins at 170 deg until risen and firm.
Cool in tin. Cut into 25- 30 squares and dust with icing sugar.
Think this is originally a Nigella recipe.

i made my recipe on saturday / sunday and it still was ok today when it went to teachers - will probab last till sunday.

regards cellophane bags - apparently tesco is selling cellophane in their party section. if you've got a specialist cake shop (one that makes cakes, ices etc) in town then they will have them.

Have a look at my Vanillekipferl recipe(little melt-in-the-mouth biscuits w. hazelnuts in, covered in icing sugar) in the Food section in a thread called something like 'Sweets to give as gifts.' They make nice presents, and don't go stale - in fact they're all the better for being left a week or so before eating.

Thanks everyone. We have quite a big Tescos so will try there and yes we do have a cake shop so will give them a call, never thought of that! Making boxes would be great & I'd love to do this but think my efforts would cause much hilarity! I'm bad enough with paper planes and DS treats them with the disdain they sadly deserve ....... Definitely going to try the gingerbread Sally, anything easy with lots of potential domestic goddess points is most welcome in my kitchen!

might as well copy and paste here. They're very easy to make, and taste delicious.

this is the recipe I use:

250g plain flour
180g butter
100g ground hazelnuts (or you can use almonds)
50g icing sugar, and then more for rolling them in

Rub the butter into the dry ingredients and then squeeze and knead the crumbs together until you have a dough. It looks really crumbly at first, but keep squeezing/kneading and it will be a workable dough very soon (you don't need any liquid). Make little rolls in your hands, about the size of your little finger, and bend them into crescent shapes as you put them on the baking sheet.

Bake at 180 degrees C for 5-10 minutes (keep an eye on them, they're best if they stay pale). When they've cooled a bit, roll them in icing sugar. Technically speaking, there should be vanilla in the rolling sugar (hence their name...) but I do it without.

They're a bit fragile when they first come out of the oven, so let them cool a bit before handling them.

we did gingerbread too (different recipe- we used theis one: 650g plain flour, 8 tbsp golden syrup, pack unsalted bytter, 4tsp ground ginger, 1 level tsp baking powder, 100g dark brown sugar, 100g mollasses sugar (so good for using up Chrostmas cake making stuff)

melt butter with syrup and baking powder over low heat

add to other ingredients stir roll out cut and bake at 170.

Took some in for teachers wrapped in little bags amde from decorative (florists) cellophane and will take some to neighbours if we don't eat it because it is yum.