Scottish Tablet is made with just four simple ingredients, but getting that classic crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture depends on reaching the soft-ball stage and beating the mixture until it thickens. Sweeter than sweet and quite unlike fudge, it’s a real traditional Scottish treat.
Scottish Tablet Recipe Snapshot
- Recipe Type: Traditional Scottish sweet (candy).
- Texture: Firm, crumbly and slightly grainy, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture.
- Method: Boiled on the hob, then beaten and left to set.
- Setting Point: Soft-ball stage, around 115-120°C (240-250°F).
- Cooking Time: Around 40 minutes.
- Setting Time: At least 2 hours, although overnight is ideal.
- Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes.
- Makes: 30 pieces.
- Ingredients: Only 4.
- Dietary information: Naturally gluten-free, egg-free and nut-free, with substitutions for dairy-free and vegan too.
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What is Scottish Tablet?
Aside from being one of the sweetest and most delicious treats known to man…
Scottish Tablet is a traditional Scottish sweet made by boiling sugar, milk, butter and condensed milk together, before beating the mixture to thicken and then leaving it to set. The result is a firm but crumbly treat, with a slightly grainy texture that melts in the mouth. There’s truly nothing else quite like it!
Although tablet is often compared with fudge, the two aren’t quite the same. Fudge is usually softer and creamier, while tablet is firmer, more crumbly and unmistakably sweet. It is closer in spirit to other old-fashioned Scottish sweets like my Scottish Coconut Ice, which is also boiled on the hob before being pressed into a tin to set, although the ingredients and finished texture are quite different. In some ways the texture isn’t a million miles away from Scottish Macaroons, which also have that crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture, but theirs is actually achieved with the potato in those sweets.
Scottish Tablet: A Scottish Favourite
If you’re from Scotland, you’ll know that tablet has a habit of appearing whenever people get together. It turns up at weddings, parties and ceilidhs; on the table for St Andrew’s Day, Hogmanay and Christmas; and on bake-sale tables, festive hampers and Secret Santa gifts. It always makes a thoughtful homemade gift, especially for someone who is hard to buy for – and is just as welcome as a little sweet at the end of a meal or alongside a cup of coffee.
Tablet is popular with visitors to Scotland, but it isn’t simply a tourist sweet. Scots adore it too, and most of us know someone who makes “the best tablet”. That might be your Mum, Granny, auntie or a friend, and their batch will always be the one you compare every other piece against. It is cut into little squares for a reason: tablet is so sweet that a small piece goes a long way.
Tablet has been part of Scottish confectionery for centuries. Early Scottish references to tablet, or taiblet in Scots, appear in 18th-century sources, including a recipe for orange tablet recorded in Mrs McLintock’s 1736 cookbook. Today’s recipes may differ in their ingredients and method, but tablet is still boiled, beaten and left to set before being cut into pieces. It belongs in the same collection of Scottish favourites as my traditional Scottish Shortbread and Caramel Slice.
Key Ingredients
There are only four ingredients in this Scottish Tablet recipe, but each one matters. Here’s what I use and what you need to know about the different choices.
That’s all you need – there’s no vanilla in this recipe; it’s not a traditional addition, and there’s no need to add it. Tablet has plenty of flavour without it.
See the recipe card for a full ingredients list, required quantities and cup conversions.
Substitutions & Additions
Sugar: Caster sugar (superfine sugar in the US) is my first choice for Scottish Tablet, as finer crystals dissolve quicker and easier, but you can use ordinary granulated sugar if that’s what you have. Golden caster sugar is also a great option if you want a deeper flavour and colour to your tablet.
Milk: Full-fat and semi-skimmed milk both work well in this recipe. You can also use soya milk (soy milk in the US) or coconut milk if you’d like to vary the flavour. Coconut milk will give the tablet a noticeable coconut flavour.
Whisky: For a whisky-flavoured tablet, add a little whisky to the mixture after taking the pan off the heat, before beating.
Sea Salt: For a salted version, sprinkle a little sea salt over the surface of the tablet after spreading it into the tin. Add it while the mixture is still warm, so the salt sticks to the top.
Looking for dairy-free, gluten-free or vegan adaptations? See the Free-from & Vegan section below.
Top Tips for Scottish Tablet:
• Use your biggest pan: Bigger than you think you will need. Trust me! Once the ingredients start to boil, the mix will try to overflow too. And there’s no joy in cleaning hot, sticky tablet disasters from your stovetop.
• A sugar thermometer is a must: This is one recipe where I would always, always recommend using a sugar thermometer. Without it, you are less likely to have success, as it requires a bit of guesswork and experience to know exactly when the tablet has reached the Soft-Ball stage.
• Just beat it: When it comes to beating your tablet, it can take a good bit of elbow grease! Stick with it. You want to beat it until it starts to thicken, but not too thick either. The good news is that you can’t really over-beat tablet – even if it is thicker than you wanted, it’ll still taste great – it just won’t look as pretty and smooth on top.
• Electric whisk is an option: I have heard of some people using an electric whisk to beat their tablet. This isn’t something I have personally tried, but if you struggle with beating your tablet or have limited mobility, this could be a good option to consider.
• Score the top: For a perfectly neat tablet, score the top of your tablet to the shape you wish to cut (bars or squares are most traditional) after it’s had a little time to cool, but is still warm. This will make it much easier to get a smooth finish when you come to cutting your tablet.
Ingredients for Scottish Tablet:
Caster Sugar
Being sweeter than sweet, sugar was always going to be the biggest ingredient in tablet! Caster sugar is by far the best, due to its finer texture, dissolving easily when combined with the liquids. You can swap to Golden Caster Sugar for a more caramel-y flavour and darker coloured tablet, should you prefer.
Milk
Ideally, you want to use full-fat milk. This is what a traditional homemade Scottish tablet would be made with. However, I have used semi-skimmed in a pinch and had good success.
Butter (or Margarine…)
Salted or unsalted butter is fine; whichever you have to hand.
Or there is the option to use a block margarine. Many tablet purists would disapprove of swapping true butter for margarine; however, I can confirm it works just as well. And with the amount of sugar and the degree of sweetness in the tablet, it means it’s very difficult to tell the difference in terms of taste. If you do opt for a margarine, just be sure to use a block margarine as opposed to the spreadable kind – the latter will interfere with your tablet setting, due to the lower fat content.
Condensed Milk
Literally one of my most favourite ingredients in baking. Just be sure to leave a little condensed milk in the tin and on the spoon (purely for licking clean!).
Free-from & Vegan:
Gluten-free: Scottish tablet is naturally gluten-free but be sure to check your ingredients individually when preparing for anyone with intolerances or coeliac disease.
Vegan: To make this a Vegan Scottish Tablet recipe, simply replace the full-fat dairy milk with sweetened soya milk, and use vegan condensed milk. Swap the butter for your dairy-free block margarine.
N.B. Any advice or suggestions to make recipes “free-from” or vegan are purely that – suggestions. Please be careful to double-check all ingredients individually, taking extra caution when serving to those with allergies & intolerances.
For more info on common food allergies, please see food.gov.uk | For more info on coeliac disease, please see coeliac.org.uk | For more info on a vegan diet, please see vegansociety.com
Scottish Tablet FAQs
It is tricky to try to explain what tablet is to someone who has never tried it. Scottish Tablet is truly unique, and although there are some sweet treats that are similar, nothing really quite compares. It is made with milk, butter, condensed milk and A LOT of sugar. It is boiled to a high temperature before beating the mixture until thickened, and then setting it in a tin until completely cool. It is a truly unique sweet (candy) that is popular with all generations in Scotland.
Scottish Tablet is the best-tasting food in Scotland (sorry, haggis – you’re a close second though). Think of the sweetest fudge you’ve ever had, without the vanilla flavour. And more of a crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture. Then multiply the sweetness by about a hundred. You’ll be pretty close to what tablet tastes like!
Traditional Scottish Tablet is actually quite easy to make, but there are a few things that can make or break your success.
You start by dissolving your sugar and milk in a large pan, over a gentle heat. Next, you add your butter and allow it to melt before finally adding your condensed milk. You will increase the heat of your pan to bring everything to a boil until it reaches Soft-Ball stage (120°c). This is where a sugar thermometer is a must-have!
The final stage of tablet making is the beating. You need to allow the mixture to cool briefly before beating with a wooden spoon. It can take a bit of work, but it will start to thicken. To finish, simply pour your tablet into a greased tin and allow it to cool before cutting into bars or squares.
More Scottish Baking Recipes
If you loved this traditional Scottish Tablet, here are some more of my favourite Scottish recipes for you to try next:
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Scottish Tablet
INGREDIENTS
- 900 g Caster Sugar
- 250 ml Full-fat Milk
- 110 g Block Margarine or Butter
- 397 g Condensed Milk (usually 1 tin)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the sugar and milk in a large saucepan over a gentle heat. Stir occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved. Grease and line a 20×20cm (8×8 inch) baking tin with
greaseproof paper . Set aside. - Once all the sugar has dissolved, add the butter and allow it to melt.
- When the butter has melted, add the condensed milk and mix well. Increase the heat and stir continuously while the mixture boils and reaches Soft-Ball stage (120°c/250°F) on your sugar thermometer. This usually takes 15-20 minutes, but timing may vary.
- Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to settle a little before beating. Beat with a wooden spoon in the pan until the mixture is almost setting. This may take a good bit of beating!
- Transfer to your pre-lined tin and spread evenly to the edges and corners.
- Leave to set for at least 2 hours, but ideally overnight. If you want neatly cut squares/bars of tablet, score your tablet in your desired size/shape about 30 minutes into setting. Alternatively, you can simply break the tablet into individual servings once set for a more rustic feel.
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IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion, but these, unfortunately, won’t always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
RECIPE NOTES:
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Leave a comment and rating below!Originally published in May 2017.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy Beth Reid
Amy Beth Reid is an award-winning food blogger, mother, wife and cookbook author. Inspired by her childhood in the kitchen with her Mum – a professional baker and her children’s Granny – Amy now shares her tried-and-tested traditional home baking recipes with bakers of all abilities around the world. She lives in Scotland with her husband, two sons and her small pack of Siberian huskies.