Dairy/Soya/Gluten/Egg-free Coconut Ice Fudge

Dairy-free, Soya-free, Gluten-free, Egg-free

Makes: 25 pieces

Calories per piece: 158

Ever since I started this allergen-free culinary journey, I've wanted to try making fudge. I love fudge making. I think it's because I enjoy eating fudge and always figured it would be really really difficult, but then one day I had a go and discovered it's not difficult at all! I've made it lots of times since then, but was always a bit concerned about how dairy/soya-free spread would work in place of butter, given it can be a bit watery and greasy. I was also unsure of the milk. Most fudge recipes use evaporated milk, but I have made it with whole cows milk before... you just have to up the sugar. I figured coconut milk, with its high fat content, might make a good substitute.

Anyway, this week I had some coconut milk on the shelf, and not much else by the way of ingredients, so figured it was the perfect time to have a go. I pulled out a few fudge recipes I have around, read them, and then improvised. I used slightly less spread than I'd use butter, as I was worried about the watery-ness, and had to up the sugar content half way through because it wasn't thickening properly. In the end I've ended up with quite a delicious-tasting product. It's not as "fudgy" as conventional fudge, and with a consistency that resembles coconut ice... but it sure is scrummy!

As an aside, honestly, don't be scared of trying to make fudge! It's not difficult. There are a couple of ways you can mess it up, but I'll take you through the steps. Even if you do mess up, it's so quick and cheap to make you can always try again, and the "mess up" will still taste delicious to eat yourself!

Ingredients:

• 90g non-dairy, non-soya spread
• 650g granulated sugar
• 300ml full-fat coconut milk
• the zest of 1 lime
• 50g toasted dessicated coconut

Method:

• Grease a 20cm square cake tin.
• Place the spread, sugar and coconut milk into a large pan. (I use a jam-making pan for this. The bigger the pan, the quicker the fudge cooks.)

• Heat gently, stirring, until the spread has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
• Continue to heat, stirring occasionally, as the mixture bubbles and turns over. Don't have the heat too high or it will burn. It should look like this:

• Now, there are two ways to check when it's ready. You can use a sugar thermometer, and take it to "soft ball stage", but I prefer the bowl of water method. Fill a bowl with water, and after 10-15 minutes drop a small amount of the mixture into the water. Try to roll it into a ball with your fingers. If it falls apart, cook the mixture for another 5 minutes before trying again. If it comes together into a slightly sticky ball it's ready. Simple!
• When the fudge is ready, remove it from the heat, stir in the lime zest and dessicated coconut, and then leave to cool for 5 minutes! This is where you can mess up your fudge. If you leave it too long it will start to set and the consistency will be all wrong. 5 minutes! And if you notice it start to set, and when you stir it it cracks, you've left it too long.

• After 5 minutes you need to vigorously beat the mixture. Beat the crap out of it! You're breaking up the crystals and creating the consistency. Once the mixture starts to thicken and lose it's shine, it's ready. Don't worry, you can't really over-beat it. Just pay attention to the change and use your instinct. It should take about 5 minutes.

• Pour the fudge into the prepared cake tin as quickly as possible. It will start setting immediately.

• Then leave it to cool. Once coolish, mark out 25 squares with a knife. And once completely cool and set, cut the fudge into its pieces and store in the fridge.
• See! Easy peasy!