Peanut-Butter Fudge, Take 2

I have spent the last 10 days mulling over the failed peanut-butter fudge attempt and planning another go. My archaeological world has continued apace and so my fudge-related musings have been squeezed into days filled with old maps and historical research at my desk. Occasionally, I was called upon to do some field-walking, so I pondered as I trudged across pastures, climbing field-gates and fending off curious cattle. (For those of you now wondering what on earth 'field-walking' is, it is exactly what it sounds like, but all the while keeping an eagle-eye out for archaeological sites or monuments. Not quite the treasure hunts of Indiana Jones I'll grant you, but boy can those cattle give you a run for your money - give me Nazis or head-hunting cannibals any day.) Anyway, back to the more important hunt for a successful peanut-butter fudge recipe! 

Peanut-butter fudge, Take 2

Most of the recipes that I came across were American (it seems to have been a popular fudge flavour there for a long time - plenty of 'Grandma's PB Fudge' and the like) and they all used an awful lot of sugar (American recipes for cakes, desserts and confectionery are often far sweeter than their equivalent on this side of the ocean). I knew from my first attempt that I would need to start from scratch, perhaps using my own vanilla fudge recipe (which is quite different), adding a similar amount of peanut-butter as used in the American recipe and taking it from there, adjusting if necessary. And so it went. I made the vanilla fudge as usual, but with a scoop of peanut-butter added in at the start (all of the recipes I've seen add it at the end but I hoped to squeeze extra flavour out of it). I also decided to increase my sugar content slightly - against my better judgement - since every other recipe I've seen (including one or two British ones) used at least twice my quantity of sugar. At the end of the process, I added in some chopped, salted peanuts, to add extra crunch, a bit more saltiness and a fresher peanut flavour.

I am happy to report that this batch of fudge was not only edible (vast improvement on the first attempt) but also pretty delicious, if still a bit sweet (I should have trusted my instinct and not increased the sugar content at all). I think it could do with one more trial without the extra sugar, just to be sure, but No.1 Sister who bought the original peanut-butter fudge in Doolin (and unwittingly started this whole trial), tells me that mine is nicer than the original (aren't sisters great?). I'm off out for some more field-walking tomorrow, so the remainder of the fudge will come in handy to pep us up when our legs are weary. Once that's gone, I can justify making a new batch to do a final recipe test - the perfect peanut-butter fudge is almost within tasting distance...

Preview of coming attractions

Not much time today to write about my latest baking adventures unfortunately - this is more like a trailer at the cinema, with a sneak peek of delicious things to come. All of a sudden, everything is happening at once. Normally, I meander along happily juggling my role as a dedicated follower of cake / baking, with my archaeologist alter ego (not quite Indiana Jones but it can be fun all the same). Lately though, the archaeology has taken over, leaving me scrabbling to catch up. The sweet stuff hasn't completely lost out though - my sister returned from a mini-break in the west (more of that later) with some absolutely amazing peanut-butter fudge. Suffice to say, I've spent every waking non-archaeology moment thinking about it, researching recipes and even trialling one of them (tooth-achingly sugary and the PB flavour was lost - back to the drawing board). So next time I'm writing I will hopefully have been able replicate the fabulous fudge from Doolin, which stars in this week's photo. Stay tuned!