At Long Last: A Recipe for (Candied Rhubarb) and Ginger Tablet

Do you see those ugly chunks of candy up there, dear readers? Those are my belated present to you. They were supposed to be for our six month anniversary, but I was busy that day. Here they are now, though. A little token of my great appreciation for you popping in here now and then. Six months and thousands of hits. Pretty nice. Thank you so much.

So here is a recipe for Candied Rhubarb and Ginger Tablet. A candy of my dreams. Tablet is a Scottish variation on fudge. It's basically crystallized sugar and butter, so the texture is firm, a little bit like maple sugar candy. You can make a plain one, but I like to add some other flavours. I would also like to nominate the first person to pair rhubarb and ginger as my anonymous patron saint. Together they are invincible. The ingredients for this recipe are very simple: sugar, butter, condensed milk, rhubarb and ginger marmalade. But their assembly is a bit of a trick. This was the third time I had made tablet and I think I finally nailed it with these nuggets. I think I am finally ready to write about it. It's a daunting thing to make in Scotland; everyone's granny does it the best. Way better than me. It's a candy that relies on loads of steady stirring and knowing just the right time to turn off the heat.  Granny skills.

The first time I made it, I stuck a candy thermometer in the pot so I knew exactly when it got to the right temperature. I took it off the heat, stirred like made for exactly five minutes and then poured it onto a baking sheet. I followed the recipe exactly and it was a disaster. It tasted as good as a load of sugar and butter can taste (i.e. amazing), but I had left it to cook for too long and it was horribly grainy. You don't want grainy tablet. It feels like sucking on sandpaper. 

The next time I made it, I found instructions that relied on sight and texture rather than temperature. It was perfect. I ended up with a pristine pool of candy that I smugly cut into perfect squares and disseminated at Christmas.

I had no qualms as I set out to make a third time, this time for you. It started well. Everything bubbled in my great black cauldron as I stirred and stirred and stirred. After about ten minutes the bubbling liquid was just shot through with wisps of caramel colour. In the next five minutes the whole mass changed from white to warm gold and I knew it was almost time. I checked the texture and it was right, too. I turned off the heat, stirred it again and then went to add some ginger marmalade to the mixture. While I was opening the jar, the sugar mixture almost boiled over the top of the huge pot I was using. Not a good sign. I quickly added half the jar and stirred again like mad and then poured the whole lot onto a baking sheet.

It was very ugly. I was deeply disappointed. The tablet had cooled just enough before pouring to make an uneven and craggy surface. I tasted good, and the internal texture was perfect, but it was marred by this ugly crust. I pressed the candied rhubarb into the top of the still-warm mass and took my heavy heart to bed.

The next morning I told my Scottish flatmate of my disappointment. "It looks perfect!" she said. I thought she was joking, the jerk. She assured me that she wasn't. That tablet should look a little rough. That is was undesirable to have a smooth finish. (In my head) I gave her two hundred dollars for making me so happy and making my tablet feel so secure in its appearance.

I brought some into work the next day and my boss said exactly the same thing. That she and her siblings used to fight over the rockiest pieces. She said my tablet was great. I did my work extra efficiently that day.

So, dear readers, it's ok to be ugly! Not that you guys know anything about that. But if you make this recipe and it doesn't come out looking like a freshly watered skating rink, don't worry about it. If it crumbles when you take a bite and makes you want to rot your teeth out one by one, then you've done it right. How liberating is that?

(the underbelly of the tablet was smooth to the touch)

Candied Rhubarb and Ginger Tablet

I think this is a great basic recipe. There are loads of photos and really good step-by-step directions. If you've never made tablet before, you should look at this first. Do you see the problem, though? That's right, this site shows a perfectly smooth end result. This was the reason I was so upset with my ugly tablet baby. But don't worry. This person lives in the colonies (in Scarborough, ON!). Something was lost in the translation. Back here in Scotland, people like it a bit rough.

• 4 medium stalks of rhubarb
• 1 kilo of white sugar (try to use cane sugar) plus 1/2 c
• 100 grams of butter
• one tin of condensed milk (not evaporated) about 400 ml
• a little bit of milk
• about 1/2 c of ginger marmalade*

1. Wash the rhubarb and cut off any yucky ends. Cut the stalks in two and then slice them lengthwise in three or four strips. By my calculations, you should end up with 24-32 long and slim pieces.
2. Lay the rhubarb on a lined baking sheet and cover them with 1/2 c of sugar.
3. Bake for about 2.5 hours in a very low (as low as possible) oven with the door open just a wee bit.
4. Take them out when they've shrunk in size and are covered by the most delicious rhubarb syrup you have ever tasted. They'll be chewy but still pliable.
5. Now for the tablet. Get out your biggest pot. A really, really big one. If you don't have one that's enormous, please half the recipe. Now would be a good time to ban all children from the kitchen, too. This recipe involves a lot of boiling sugar. An accident with this stuff would be horrible. Ugly tablet is good, ugly and maimed children are bad.
6. Over medium-high heat, pour in 1 kilo of sugar. Add just enough milk to make a thick paste. Now add the condensed milk and the butter. Stir it up.
7. Continue to stir almost forever.
8. Is it just starting to get a little bit golden? That's good. Is it still lily white? Keep stirring.
9. You need to stir way more than when you make risotto.
10. Is it golden yet? All the way through? Good. You're really getting there. Now keep stirring.
11. Aside from the colour change you judge the readiness of tablet by the texture of the residue on the wooden spoon you are using to stir. The sugar liquid will solidify on the spoon as soon as it reaches the cool air. If this thin layer is gooey, it's still needs to cook. If it has micro grains, it's ready. If it has macro grains, you are in sandpaper land**. Test this by running your fingernail through the residue on the wooden spoon.
12. When it's golden and you have micro-grains, take the pot off the heat. (Remember, it will still be hot enough to melt your flesh). Give it a quick stir and then speedily add the marmalade. Even better, get a friend to add the marmalade as you continue to stir.
13. After two or three minutes, pour the mixture onto the baking tray (you could grease it first, but I didn't and it was fine).
14. Press the rhubarb into the top of the mixture. Alternatively, you could chop it and add the bits right into the mixture at the same time as the marmalade.
15. It will start to solidify almost instantly. Score it into squares as quickly as you can. I didn't do this and ended up wrestling to get it into chunks the next day.
16. Eat tiny delicate pieces with tea and coffee.

* I used to use about three balls of finely cut candied ginger and a few tablespoons of the syrup it lives in. The shops were out of that this time, so I used jam instead. Not only is it easier (finely dicing candied ginger is very messy), but I think the ginger flavour is better distributed this way.

** What do you do if you left it on too long and ended up with macro sandpaper grains? It's ok. Just pour it onto the baking tray and let it cool. Then crumble it up and use it to top yogurt or fruit or incorporate it into a cake or a crumble. It will still be amazing.   

 

Comments

[markie]

it all sounds so wonderful my teeth are hurting already.

[Sheltie Girl]

This sounds simply fabulous and extremely yummy.

Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

[Daccia]

This looks like the most delicious thing that has ever happened.