This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Oh, the joys of going to school at Trebizon. Near the sea, with a firm but fair headmistress and lots of fresh air and fun. Anyone else remember this series? A boarding school in Cornwall based around Rebecca and her two best friends, Tish and Sue. There's lots of tennis, running, hockey and music. The children work hard, are very competitive yet also have time for fun and to solve a few mysteries. Boys are talked about a bit, but it is mainly about the achievements of the girls. I loved it and wanted to go there – even more so than Mallory Towers.
Rebecca's parents are transferred abroad with her father's job so boarding school is where Rebecca has to continue her schooling. Fortunately she meets a great group of girls. Along with Tish and Sue, there is Elf, Mara and Margot.
In Fourth Year Triumphs at Trebizon they all return back to school after the holidays and tuck into some fudge. This is before the running to Mulberry Island, before the filming with Miss Angel and before Rebecca finally gets the chance of a tennis match against Joss Vining.
Before all of that, there is homemade fudge. The girls tuck in and munch contentedly whilst listening to each others news from the holidays. It is a pleasurable feast.
If you've never read the Trebizon series by Anne Digby in your youth, then its not too late. They are now available on Kindle.
My recipe for fudge uses a tin of Carnation so I adapted this recipe from the Carnation website.
Equipment Heavy based or non-stick pan for boiling the fudge, wooden spoon, a chilled bowl, baking tin (20cm approx) for pouring into, electric beaters or strong arms and baking parchment.
Ingredients
397g can condensed milk
150ml milk
450g demerara sugar
115g butter
1tsp vanilla extract
Method
- Place all ingredients into a large heavy bottomed or non-stick saucepan and allow butter to melt and sugar to dissolve
- Bring to the boil then bring down to a constant simmer. Stir all the time for at least 15 minutes. If you have a sugar thermometer it should be at 118 degrees.
- Remove from the heat and pour the liquid into the cold bowl. Stir until thick and cooled.
- Line your tin with baking parchment and pour in the thick, cold fudge.
- Allow to set then cut into squares.
The trick is to boil the fudge for long enough then to beat for long enough. Mine was a little bit gloopy on the first attempt, but the children still enjoyed it and the rest I threw in with an apple crumble!