Cooking with Charlie: a sweet treat

Last month we introduced you to Charlie, one of our Post-19 students, in his first blog. He has a passion for food and cooking that he hopes to take into a future career.

Currently, only 22% of autistic adults are in any form of employment¹, a statistic that we’re working to change. In our services, learners work with our Specialist Vocational Advisor building employability skills and accessing work experience placements to prepare for their future. We have also created a toolkit for individuals and employers that seeks to give autistic people improved access to, and support in, employment.

Charlie has ambitions of being a chef and loves making and talking about food. He wanted to set up his blog to share his recipes and spread his passion. With Christmas just around the corner, read on to find a recipe for a great little stocking filler!

Welcome to my 2^nd blog, in this post I’ll be making chocolate fudge. I came across this recipe when I visited Windsor 5 years ago. This was on a menu where I was staying and since then I’ve always been interested in trying to make it but never had the chance to.

I have chosen this recipe, as I like chocolate and I was inspired from my trip to Windsor. I also have a passion for cooking and wanted to challenge myself to make something I’ve never made before.

Recipes and step by step instructions: chocolate fudge

Ingredients

410g evaporated milk
150g butter
500g caster sugar
200g dark chocolate

Method:

Grease a loaf tin with a little butter and then take a piece of greaseproof paper and line the tin with it.
Then into a large saucepan add all the ingredients except the dark chocolate. Turn on the heat to medium and bring to boil and stir continually being extremely careful as well as the mixture is molten, and it will burn you.
Using a digital thermometer get the temperature to 116-118 degrees Celsius. If using a traditional sugar thermometer bring it to the soft ball stage. But if you don’t have a thermometer place a little bit of the mix into a bowl of very cold water and if you can mould it into a ball and its soft then it’s perfect.
As soon as it hits the temperature take it off the heat and leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then break up the chocolate and add it to the mix. Stir it until all the chocolate has melted and the mix thickens up.
Then tip it out into the lined baking tray, spread it out evenly and leave to set at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
Once the fudge has set, cut it into bite size pieces and serve with ice-cream.

Enjoy!

About the chef

Hi there, my name is Charlie. I have autism, and I am very enthusiastic about cooking and food. I like cooking because I have always loved food ever since I was a small boy in the 2000s.

My experience

I have had many years of experience in restaurants and street food businesses. From sushi, grilled meat and pasta to even Turkish style kebabs.

About my blog

I want to write this blog to show my progress and footsteps into the world and seek new food adventures.

1. Office for National Statistics (2021). Outcomes for disabled people in the UK: 2020