There is a secret to this one, my grandma said: you know it’s done when the spoon stands up by itself in the mixture. And with this piece of advice, I have always had perfect fudge. This is one of the most highly prized of all Indian sweets, the mastering of which should qualify you as an honorary citizen of India.
NOTE: You will need a spice grinder or food processor to grind the cashews.
Makes 20
12/3 cups cashews
¾ cup sugar
a handful of dried rose petals
Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a baking pan, and keep another sheet nearby.
Grind the cashews to as fine a crumb as you can in a spice grinder or food processor—be careful not to overgrind the cashews, though, or they’ll start releasing their oils and turn into cashew butter.
Next, pour ¼ cup of water into a saucepan, add the sugar, and place over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil. Then add the ground cashews. Stir to mix, and keep stirring intermittently for 6 to 8 minutes, until the mixture thickens. As soon as you can stand a wooden spoon up in the mixture without it immediately falling to one side, transfer it to the baking paper. Sprinkle the rose petals over the top.
You’ll need to work fairly quickly now. Place the other sheet of parchment paper over the top and roll the fudge out to around ¼-inch thick. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and leave to cool. (If you’ve got lots of sticky cashew left in your pan, fill with water and boil to clean it.)
When the fudge has cooled, cut on a diagonal at 1¾-inch intervals, then cut on the opposite diagonal at 1¾-inch intervals, to make diamond shapes.
