Tablet (taiblet in Scots), butter tablet, butter fudge, cream tablet or Swiss Milk tablet (derived from a condensed milk brand name) is a medium-hard, sugary confection from Scotland. A variation including golden syrup is known as Russian fudge. Tablet is usually made from sugar, condensed milk, and butter, boiled to a soft-ball stage and allowed to crystallize. It is often flavoured with vanilla, and sometimes has nut pieces in it.

Tablet has a long history. According to The Scots Kitchen by F. Marian McNeill, tablet is first noted in The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie in the early 18th century. The traditional recipe uses just sugar and cream. More modern recipes substitute condensed milk and butter for the cream, as it has a tendency to burn when boiled.

Commercially available tablet often uses fondant instead of the milk products. This produces a slightly less granular texture to the traditional home-made tablet, and is supposedly much easier to prepare on a commercial scale.

Tablet differs from fudge in that it has a brittle, grainy texture, where fudge is much softer. Tablet is almost identical to Québécois sucre à la crème, except the latter is often made with maple syrup. It's also reportedly similar to South American tableta de leche. Another close relative can be found in the Netherlands that goes by the name of borstplaat, eaten during the time that Sinterklaas is celebrated.


Recipe for Scottish Tablet
Ingredients
Knob of butter
450g (1lb) caster sugar
120ml (4 fl oz) milk
1 small tin (397g) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation method
1.Grease a square baking tin (with tall sides) with butter.
2.Heat sugar and milk slowly in a heavy based saucepan till all the sugar dissolves.
3.Add the condensed milk and bring to the boil.
4.Boil for about 15-20 minutes until it becomes pitted like a moon base.
5.Then boil for another 5 minutes until it comes off the sides of the pan easily.
6.Pour into the greased tin.
7.Leave to cool for ten minutes, mark into squares of desired size and cut when completly cool.