Festive Fudge with Cranberry and Pistachio (for the Thermomix)

Fudge is one of those deliciously decadent treats that people love to make at Christmas - both to eat themselves and as gifts for others. 

Cranberry and pistachio makes a really delicious and colourful combination, which looks beautiful when cut up into cubes and popped into pretty packaging for gifts.

This is my version of festive fudge, tweaked to our preferences and mostly blogged for my own ailing memory, and for my children to be able to find my recipe (because who knows where those scraps of hastily scribbled on paper disappear to!). If you're cooking strictly gluten free, you will need to ensure you have an appropriate brand of white chocolate (check the label for 'may contain...', as some chocolate is processed in factories handling wheat etc.), and also check the nuts to be on the safe side.

If you want to make a selection of fudge, why not try my Salted Caramel Fudge and Chocolate Cookies and Cream Fudge recipes too?

Ingredients

• 90g pistachio nuts
• 50g dried, sweetened cranberries or cherries (or more?)
• 200g white chocolate (break into squares / chunks - check gluten free if applicable)
• 125g salted butter, in cubes
• 400g can of condensed milk
• 100g light muscovado (soft brown) sugar – I like Billington’s
• 50g golden syrup
• 30g glucose syrup

Method

1. Line a 20cm x 20cm or 15cm x 25cm (or something close) tin with greaseproof baking paper.

2. Chop only 70g nuts and all 50g cranberries  2 seconds / Speed 6, then separate and reserve both the fine crumbs (for sprinkling) and the bigger chunks using the internal steaming bowl as a crude sieve to do so. Chop the final 20g of the nuts 5 seconds / Speed 10, and add to the rest of the finely chopped nuts. These will be for the topping. There’s no need to wash the bowl after this stage or the next.

3. Add the white chocolate chunks to the empty bowl and blitz 5 seconds / Speed 10 then tip / brush out and reserve.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for  9 minutes / 100C / Speed 3 / MC OFF then 20 minutes / Varoma Temperature / Speed 3 / MC OFF (TM5 – for TM31 maximum speed 2 using Varoma temperature).

5. Remove the lid carefully trying not to drip condensation into the mix. Add the chocolate crumbs, large chunks of cranberries and pistachios and mix 30 seconds / Reverse / Speed 3 until chocolate is fully melted and everything is combined, then tip out immediately into lined baking tin, working quickly. Smooth the top out (you could put greaseproof baking paper on to help flatten / smooth it, being careful not to burn your hands!), then scatter with the fine pistachio crumbs (again, you could lightly press them in using baking paper) and allow to set for a couple of hours or more, until firm, before slicing into cubes.