What’s your favourite candy?
Which I’ve interpreted fairly to include a variety of sweet/confection including what some may call baking
In keeping with me being the most authentic Scottish man going, I wanted to educate the world today about one of my favourite pieces of confectionery – tablet. It’s the sort of traditional food Scots still adore and the sort of thing you might find as part of a Burns night celebration. I’m going to tell you what tablet is, how good it is, and I will also look through my recipes to see if I can find you a recipe for tablet.
There’s your table (or tablet) of contents so let’s go!
What is tablet?
Here is a picture of tablet.
Tablet is a super basic sweet food, sort of like fudge, that is made from very few ingredients. It’s sugar, condensed milk and butter, where it differs from fudge is in the texture. Tablet has a firmer texture and is more solid. It is split irregularly rather than cut into squares. There is a difference in preparation too. For more on all that, consult here. With the basics covered, why do we have it in Scotland?
According to the Scottish Tablet Company, it was first written about in the 1700s in The Household Book by Lady Grisell Baillie. As the earliest fudge was 1886, Scotland wins by a comfortable margin for innovation, though given the simple ingredients it is unlikely there is a connection.
How good is tablet?
It has become a wildly popular sweet in Scotland due to its versatile nature. It can be made in a small kitchen or in an industrial size. It goes well with cups of tea or as a dessert. It has a richness which makes it fit for a wedding but also has a homeliness which makes it fit for anyone craving sugar with their breakfast roll before work.
It ranks in my personal favourites as a recommendation for visitors. There’s other sweets I would more regularly eat myself because tablet seems especially bad for the teeth, but some delights are worth decay. It remains an item which has not gained world fame yet. This makes it the perfect thing to make a Scottish holiday different to anywhere else and keeps us authentic and real.
So give it a go, available at most cafes in Scotland or in many of our convenience shops.
An authentic tablet recipe
I took a look through a variety of recipes online to try and find one which worked and was authentic. I even tried looking at Lady Grisell Baillie’s aforementioned original tablet recipe available in a reprinted form in the National Library of Scotland but I had some technical issues getting access.
I then remembered I have a recipe for this inside my Primary School Cookbook.
This book was the brainchild of our PTA to raise some funds. It worked wonders, by the way. Anyway, I still turn to it on occasions like this.
So here is the recipe courtesy of my old headteacher.
5-Star Tablet by Mr Cartner
Ingredients
- 150ml milk
- 800g caster sugar
- 175g unsalted butter
- 225g condensed milk
Method
- Prepare an 18 x 27cm tray by lining it with a layer of tin foil covered a layer of cling film. Place the tray in the freezer the night before making the tablet.
- Using a large thick-based pot melt together the milk and butter, then add the sugar and stir to dissolve. When the mixture starts to simmer add the condensed milk, stirring all the time to prevent burning.
- Simmer for 9 – 10 minutes until it turns a light amber colour.
- To test for readiness put a little in a cup of cold water – it should form a soft ball (116 degrees on a sugar thermometer).
- Take off the heat and place the pan on a wet cloth then best the mixture until it lightens in colour and begins to thicken.
- Pour into the chilled tray, cover with cling film and place in the freezer for 1.5 hours. Remove onto a chopping board and break into squares.
Give it a go and let me know how it turns out! Also, if you’re planning on a trip to Scotland come on a tour.
The writer of this piece was actually researching buying a new screen which is why he had an inkling for tablet.
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