This blog entry by: Jo

I was rather excited recently to hear about the arrival of vegan condensed milk in Australia.  Yes... I know it's probably sad to get excited about a little tin of sweet thick soy milk, but it had me dreaming of fudge (which always takes me back to childhood holidays in Cornwall), banoffee pie, toffee, caramel slices and much much more!

Eager to try out a few recipes I logged on to the Cruelty Free Shop, only to find I obviously wasn't the only one keen to sample this product as they'd already sold out! (but you'll be pleased to know it's back in store now).  After a quick search I found Vegan Perfection also stocked it - and had it in store, perfect!

A couple of days later the tins of  gooey wickedness landed on my doorstep.  The next problem faced was what to cook with it - oh so many choices!  Fudge - for reasons mentioned before - was an obvious choice, and after much contemplation I decided what is more Aussie than a slice - so a caramel slice it was to be!

After reading through traditional recipes for both of these I devised the two vegan versions below.  Both were incredibly easy to make, so why not give them a try.  Be warned you certainly need a sweet tooth for these ones!

The following recipe makes a basic creamy vanilla fudge.  You could, if you fancied, add your own flavourings, ones that spring to mind are rum and raisin, chocolate or pistachio, but let your imagination run wild!


Creamy vanilla fudge
makes about 25 pieces

1 x 310g can vegan condensed milk 
¾ cup soft brown sugar
80g vegan margarine 
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp golden syrup
140g vegan white chocolate (I used Sweet William White Chocolate Chips, but you could use the White Delight Bar chopped into pieces instead)

Line a 20x20cm tin with aluminium foil.

Melt the vegan margarine in a saucepan,  Add sugar, condensed milk, vanilla extract and golden syrup and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.  Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the white 'chocolate'.  Once the chocolate has melted pour the mixture into the prepared tin.  Leave to cool to room temperature then place in the fridge.

Once completely cool, peel off foil and cut into squares. 

It is best to keep the fudge in the fridge otherwise it quickly becomes soft.

Caramel Slice
makes 9 slices

The main thing to remember when making these slices, is to cut into squares before the chocolate sets.  If you forget and leave it until the chocolate is cooled it will crack when you cut it and become a bit of a sticky mess (albeit a tasty one)!

1¼ cup plain flour
120g vegan margarine
50g caster sugar

1 x 310g can vegan condensed milk
100g vegan margarine
1½ tbsp golden syrup

For the top you will need 200g vegan chocolate.  You can use your favourite variety (for example Dark Chocolate or Sweet William Milk Chocolate).  I used 100g dark chocolate and 100g Sweet William White Choclate melted together.

You can make the base by hand by rubbing the margarine into the flour then mixing in the sugar.  Or you can place the flour, margarine and sugar in a food processor, you should end up with a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs. 

Press this mixture into a 20 x 20cm tin and bake at 180C for approximately 20 minutes (until golden brown).  Leave to cool.

To make the filling, place the condensed milk, margarine and syrup in a saucepan.  Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Pour over the base and refrigerate for about 4 hours.

Once the filling has set, melt the chocolate and spread evenly over the caramel layer.  Leave it to cool enough to allow you to cut into square, but not set completely.  Once you have cut into squares place back in fridge and chill until completely set.

Make your own!

If you want to have a try at making your own condensed milk then the following is a recipe that someone kindly sent me.  I haven't tried it out yet but for those of you interested here it is...  If you do make it and want to try it in the above recipes, simply measure out 310g of the finished product!