Rocky Road Fudge using the Thermapen 4 Digital Thermometer

My last dalliance with fudge was over a year ago and was a resounding flop. I didn’t own a digital thermometer back then so when I boiled my fudge to the “soft ball” stage I was testing by hand and obviously got it completely wrong so the resulting fudge never set and was more like thick wet fondant icing – a very sorry state of affairs! So when the makers of the Thermapen 4 Digital Thermometer asked if I’d like to come up with a recipe to put it through its paces I knew exactly what I had to make – fudge! But then came the next big question, what sort of fudge should I make, the possibilities are endless. I didn’t have to wait long for inspiration as a trip up the sweet aisle in my local supermarket led me to the chocolate bars, one of which was a Rocky Road one covered in mini marshmallows plus plain and white chocolate chips!

Which ever way you hold the Thermapen 4 up the display will be the right way up!

Back home I devised my fudge recipe which I wanted to be creamy and slightly soft ie not a crumbly so to help with this most of my marshmallows were going to be melted into the fudge along with the milk chocolate. What resulted was my kids coming in from school with the first one (my daughter) giving my Rocky Road Fudge 10 out of 10 and then my son came in and gave it 11 out of 10! So a resounding success, the only trouble is it’s so very morish, you really have to be strict with yourself (and your hubby)! This fudge would be great for handing out at a Bonfire Night Party, Halloween or wrapped in cellophane with a bow for Christmas presents.

But how did the Thermapen 4 perform I hear you cry! Well what can I say, it’s little wonder that it’s the UK’s number 1 selling food thermometer! I had a digital thermometer which was just a stick so could never have used it for testing hot sugar but with the Thermapen 4 the design allows you to pivot the probe at an angle or fully extend it. Hence in order to keep my fingers away from the extremely hot bubbling fudge I angled the Thermapen 4 to 90º so that my hand was on the outside of the pan while the probe was quickly measuring the temperature inside the pan (3 seconds is all it takes which is super fast). Best of all the temperature reading lights up in dark conditions and flips to the correct way up which ever way you hold it (a bit like a mobile phone only it covers 4 ways up rather than just 2). I put the Thermapen 4 down without closing it back up and later went back to it worrying that I’d drained the battery. I needn’t have worried though as it has a built in sleep function and wakes up as soon as you pick it up again! And if all this wasn’t enough it’s also waterproof so getting splashed in the kitchen isn’t going to be a problem and it comes in a whole range of funky colours so you’ll never loose it! All in all I’d give the Thermapen 4 10 out of 10 as it ticks all the boxes for functionality and is incredibly user friendly.

Would you believe that as I sit here writing this post I just looked up to see the Thermapen 4 being used on the Great British Bake Off to help with tempering chocolate!

Making the parchment longer than you need makes removing the fudge easy!

I asked some fellow bloggers for their recipe ideas using a thermometer:

Morello Cherry & Raspberry Jam – The Veg Space

Mississippi Mud Cake with Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream – Casa Costello

Rum & Sultana Fudge – United Cakedom

Damson & Redcurrant Jam – BakingQueen74

Baileys, Pistachio and Cranberry Fudge – Foodie Quine

Double Raspberry Macarons – Supergolden Bakes

As this fudge contains three types of chocolate I am entering it into this month’s We Should Cocoa where the theme is USA which is run by Tin & Thyme and hosted this month by It’s not easy being greedy.

NB: This is a commissioned post for Electronic Tempurature Instruments, all opinions are my own.