I have attempted fudge in the past without the use of a sugar thermometer and to be honest have never been overly successful. This time I bought a sugar thermometer, followed the instructions to the letter and turned out multiple batches of perfect fudge which went down very well with many people. I have to disagree with the person who said you had to beat it for ages, I did not as after addition of the chocolate it was almost setting as I was pouring it into the tin. A very good recipe thank you.

Just used up last of the bottle of orange truffle Baileys and substituted white for dark chocolate. Never made fudge before but this turned out AMAZING!

I made 3 batches yesterday to put into Christmas tins as presents and they turned out better than i could've hoped, although took much longer than expected! I was paranoid about the boiling mixture bubbling over my pan so kept it on the lowest heat possible the whole time which resulted in each batch taking about an hour to achieve the right consistency. It obviously worked though as I have perfectly smooth and creamy fudge that looks and tastes just like shop bought. I used about 75ml Baileys for each batch as people had commented on the flavour not coming through strongly but unfortunately you still couldnt taste it very much. I think the rich flavour of the white choc is just too overpowering. Overall though, a triumph.

So the first time I made this it turned out really dry and crumbly, it still tasted fine though.

Today I was determined to get it right and it turned out perfectly smooth and soft. This is what I did:

Stirred constantly as the sugar dissolved. Once it had, I kept it on the lowest temperature I could and it still boiled ( last time I put it on medium and I think this is where I went wrong). I didn't stir it at all.

Once it was at soft ball stage I turned off the heat carefully stirred in the chocolate without scraping the base or sides of the pan since I heard not to do this then poured it in a cake tin.

So I just made this fudge without a sugar thermometer and this is the first time I've ever made fudge. It is setting while I type but it looks and smells amazing! I've done it to cut up and put into Xmas pressie bags I'm making. Fingers crossed!

Had to comment, just attempted this for the first time, used exact amount of ingredients only replaced white chocolate with 50% dark chocolate as I thought it would be too sweet!! It is absolutely delicious!! Didn't use a sugar thermometer just lots of patience and experimenting with the hob!! It was setting as I tried to fill my moulds! I used silicone moulds and ice cube trays for ease and they're looking pretty good!! Hopefully they'll go down well in my Christmas gift bags :)

As an addendum to the comment above, after reaching the soft ball stage, the fudge is taken off the heat before beating.

Very sweet but delicious fudge. I have knocked off a star because the recipe isn't clear enough for people to follow properly. You don't state whether the chocolate should be chopped small enough to melt in, or nice and chunky so it remains as chunks in the finished fudge. Also -and this is the real oversight - you don't mention that you have to beat fudge for 5 to 10 minutes after it has reached soft ball stage, to get it to the correct grainy texture for home-made fudge. It starts to become more fudge-like during this beating, losing the toffee-ish sheen and becoming matt and more sandy. That's the point it should be poured into the tin to set. Besides all that, it is very nice fudge, and behaves perfectly.

Hi, has anyone tried making this fudge recipe without a thermometer? I've just had one disastrous fudge attempt and cant face another!

I just cannot get this to set. I've bought a sugar thermometer after the first attempt but still can't get it to set :( I really like the taste and I want to give it as Christmas presents. Anyone got any suggestions?

Made this today for the first time - trial run for Christmas presents. I added 100ml of baileys and reduced the cream to 450ml. It tastes amazing and set really well. I don't think it's going to last long!! I will be making this again for my Christmas hampers.

Divine ! Very easy to make .Used coffee baileys and reduced the cream by 50 mls and upped the baileys to 100 mls .real baileys flavour yum

What a disaster......first time I ever made fudge And it was rubbish.....I put it in the freezer and it still didn't set. It cost me nearly 20 pounds to buy the ingredients. I may as well have gone and brought a block of fudge for a fiver......rubbish....

I have never made fudge before but I used this recipe and it came out PERFECT! I used 100ml Baileys and 120g white chocolate. You can just about taste the baileys but the white chocolate makes it VERY sweet. Next time I will add 15oml Baileys and 100g white chocolate. I used a thermometer which takes the guess work out of it. To stop crystals forming after the soft ball stage I left to cool to 110 degrees celcius WITHOUT stirring, then whisked in very small lumps of chocolate until they melted. Fudge started to set whilst I was pouring it in a silicon tin. Result is a nice creamy fudge if a little lumpy and messy on top.

I have made this twice, the first time it tasted almost like Tablet and set really quickly but the second time it didnt set at all no idea what I did differently. Still, lovely recipe and will be making it again this year as christmas gifts.

Lovely, lovely fudge. I used white rather than golden granulated sugar the second time round and found that the resulting colour was a bit nicer. Only problem I have is that adding the chocolate cools the fudge mixture quite quickly so it's starting to set as I pour it into the tin and I end up with quite a bumpy surface. Would anything awful happen if I melted the chocolate before adding it?

This fudge is fabulous! everyone loved it and already wants me to make more! I didnt use a sugar thermometer but just used my judgement and it set within 30 mins.

Lovely fudge! Would recommend using a sugar thermometer because it takes away the guess work and saves you wasting half an hour's stirring if you misjudge the soft ball stage! I also switched the whipping to double cream due to lack of availability and it worked just fine, for the same reason I used golden caster instead of granulated and overall my fudge tasted amazing-to me, at least. I would certainly recommend this recipe-either as a gift or an indulgence!

When I made this I used standard white granulated sugar, and 200ml Baileys! Unfortunately most of the alcohol will disappear however much you use because it does when you boil it. However, you can still detect the flavour with this amount in it. A sugar thermometer is a great investment for making any fudge, as the time difference between under-cooked fudge and
over-cooked fudge is just a couple of minutes. I also used the idea of swirling the chunks of white chocolate over the hot fudge after pouring into the tin - this gives an attractive marbled finish. If your fudge is a bit soft, try freezing as you can eat it straight from the freezer and this is a great treat on a hot day!

does anybody think milk chocolate would be acceptable to use as i am not too keen on white?