I had good intentions for March. I had plans for a number of interesting posts. Some of them have made it as far as the “Draft” stage. Unfortunately though I just ran out of time. Birthdays (mine included), Mother’s Day, illness, work, more work, children, the dog and a lot of other things all conspired against me. Maybe April will be better, I won’t count my chickens though.
To make up for it, I am publishing the recipe that I have for what my mum called Chocolate Fudge when I was younger and what, it turns out, closely resembles a Scottish Tiffin recipe.
“Hold the phone! What’s Tiffin?” I hear you ask. Tiffin is an Indian and British term for a light meal eaten during the day. The word became popular in British India. In home baking, there are a number of Tiffin recipes, most using broken biscuits and chocolate as the main ingredients.
So, the ingredients list:
- 8 oz (225g) Digestive Biscuits
- 4 oz (113g) Unsalted Butter
- 3 oz (85g) Demerara / Light Brown Sugar
- 3 oz (85g) Sultanas
- 1 oz (28g) Cocoa Powder
- 1 egg
- 8 oz or 200g Milk Chocolate
You’ll also need some greaseproof paper and a shallow, 8 inch square baking tin.
- Crush the biscuits. Depending on your preference you can keep going until they are just crumbs or you can have some larger pieces. I prefer the former myself.
- Line the base of the baking tin with the greaseproof paper, this will allow you to get the finished Tiffin out without breaking it.
- Gently melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the sugar and cocoa to it. Don’t allow the mixture to boil or bubble too much but stir gently until the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the biscuits until they are coated and the butter has all been used up.
- Stir in the sultanas.
- Break the egg into the mixture and keep stirring until it gets sticky.
- Scrape the mixture into the baking tin and use a metal spoon to flatten it out and work it into the corners. The mixture should now be about 2cm thick and resonably level.
- Chill the baking tin for an hour to allow the butter to set.
- Gently melt the chocolate either over water or in a microwave. Pour it over the mixture in the tin and spread it out. You can shake the tin gently from side to side to level the chocolate out.
- Return the tin to the fridge to set the chocolate.
- Tip the Tiffin out, remove the greaseproof paper, cut and eat!
I’ll add some pictures next time I make it 🙂
