Sluttishly Sweet: Mince Pie Fudge

Ho ho HO MY GOD SO DELICIOUS

This little wonder came about after a friend announced on Twitter that she had bought some from Peyton & Byrne, and a bunch of us then proceeded to badger our culinarily-gifted friend Helen to try and make some for our Christmas karaoke party.

Helen's was amazing, and used a recipe by a fantastic Irish cook called Darina Allen - you can find Helen's original version here. For Domestic Sluttery, I used my mum's classic fudge recipe, which involves hardly any ingredients at all, and some mince pies that had been tipsily purchased from Charing Cross M&S while wheeling home post-sing song.

The result is a Christmassy, utterly delicious sugar explosion of spice with a perfect crumbly texture. My office has so far deemed it "sensational", "oh my God, OH MY GOD" and "I'm not going anywhere near that, or I'll be the size of a house by Christmas." Sugar and spice and all things nice indeed.

Mince pie fudge (makes about 30 squares)

You will need:

• Butter for greasing
• 225g salted butter
• 453g caster sugar
  
• One small tin condensed milk (c. 397g)
• Six mince pies

Make it!

Grease a large tin or roasting tray with butter, and set it to one side. Bash your mince pies into pieces.

Melt your butter and add the sugar. Stir well, then add your condensed milk. I have an electric hob so I set it to six (out of nine), so whatever works for you.

Stir your mixture for 10 minutes, when it should have just started to bubble, then continue to stir for another 10 minutes while it boils and turns a golden-brown. Keep stirring - if you feel anything catch, scrape up the bits from the bottom and stir them in. If you have forgotten to bash up your mince pies due to, oh I don't know, watching Masterchef on iPlayer, bash them up now, but don't stop stirring your fudge, or a disaster beyond your imagination will occur. Oh, and if you cook it for too long, then it turns into toffee. That happened to me last time.

Remove the fudge from the heat and add your mince pie pieces. Stir them in so they are well-covered in fudge and bash up any overly-large bits with a spoon. Pour into your greased tray and press the surface down with another spoon so it's even.

Leave to cool and then cut into pieces (this recipe makes loads, and as it's so incredibly sweet you can get away with cutting it into tiny little bits which means it will last FOREVER).

Then, as Helen says, "Sit back and accept adulation.”