How To Make Scottish Tablet

In honour of our new Scotland-inspired collection – A Highland Fling – we sought out the wisdom of our Edinburgh store team to share a recipe that means a lot to them. Meet Jen, our Edinburgh store manager, who recommends tablet, a sweet treat known to be made by anyone’s grandmother or mum up in bonnie Scotland. Over to Jen and the Edinburgh team…

Although my gran will still not part ways with her tablet recipe, I’m going to do my best to explain how to make this delicious treat. It’s something that she would make every Christmas or at family functions, and it hold just as important a place in many Scottish families.

Ingredients

• 900g granulated white sugar (4.5 Cups or 2lb. Yes, that much sugar!)
• 250ml of full-fat milk (1 Cup)
• 1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (397g tin)
• 85g butter (6 Tbsp)

Method

1. Start by melting the butter, sugar, and milk together in a large pot. Melt it together on low heat, ensuring it doesn’t catch on the pan or burn.
2. Once you have melted the first lot of ingredients together, add the condensed milk to the pan.
3. From here, you need to bring it all to a boil. This is a really important step because if you don’t get the mixture hot enough, the tablet won’t set properly later on. The mixture will rise with heat and expand as it comes to the boil.
4. Then, turn the heat down to a “brisk simmer” or medium heat for about 20 minutes.
5. The mixture will reduce a little in the pan, and you should keep stirring the whole time. You certainly get a workout making tablet!
6. Once you’ve been simmering and stirring the Scottish tablet for about 20 minutes, it will start to darken, and then you need to take it off the heat and beat it until it thickens up (check our top tips and info below about knowing if it’s ready!). Traditionally, this was done with a wooden spoon, and that’s how I’ve always done it too, but I know some people do use an electric beater as well.
7. Whenever I’ve seen homemade tablet it’s been done in a greased tin, but you could also do it in a baking paper-lined or greased baking tray or lasagne-type dish. It depends on how thick you want the pieces to be when you cut them later. Pour the mixture into the tin or tray. As you pour, it should already start to thicken, so even if your tray is a bit bigger, it won’t necessarily fully spread over the whole thing. It’ll just make for some different-sized pieces around the edges!
8. After it’s been sitting about 20 minutes or so, you can scour the top with lines for where you’ll cut later. This means you’ll get neater lines, as it can shatter if you just try and cut it without the lines. You should leave it to set further for at least 2-3 hours or overnight if you can keep people away from it for that long!

And that’s how you make traditional Scottish Tablet at home! It sounds complicated but it’s really not too bad. You just need to keep an eye on it and keep on stirring! I hope my little step-by-step tips will help you along the way.

Once you’ve tucked into some Scottish tablet, take a look at our Highland Fling collection online or in stores. And if you need more tips on the recipe, pop into our Edinburgh store and meet the team!