View source for Tablet (confectionery)

{{short description|Sugary confection from Scotland}}
{{about|the Scottish confection|the process of creating candies in the shape of tablets|Tableting}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox food
| name            = Tablet
| image           = Butter tablet.JPG
| type            = [[Confectionery]]
| country         = [[Scotland]]
| main_ingredient = [[Butter]], [[sugar]], [[condensed milk]]
}}
'''Tablet''' ({{lang|sco|taiblet}} in [[Scots language|Scots]]<ref name="DSL" /><ref name="Macgreegor" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/householdbookofl01bail/householdbookofl01bail_djvu.txt |title=Full text of "The household book of Lady Grisell Baillie, 1692-1733" |access-date=2016-01-31}}</ref>) is a medium-hard, sugary [[Confectionery|confection]] from Scotland. Tablet is usually made from [[sugar]], [[condensed milk]], and [[butter]], which is boiled to a [[soft-ball stage]] and allowed to crystallise. It is often flavoured with [[vanilla]] and sometimes has nut pieces in it.<ref name="Macgreegor" /><ref name="Scottish tablet Company" />

Tablet differs from [[fudge]] in that it has a brittle, grainy texture, where fudge is much softer. Well-made tablet is a medium-hard confection, not as soft as fudge, but not as hard as [[boiled sweets]].

Commercially available tablet often uses [[Fondant icing|fondant]] instead of the milk products. This produces a slightly less granular texture compared to the traditional home-made tablet, and is supposedly easier to prepare on a commercial scale.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

==History==
According to ''The Scots Kitchen'' by [[F. Marian McNeill]], tablet is noted in ''[[Grizel Baillie#Household books|The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie]]'' in the early 18th century.<ref name="scots_kitchen" /> The traditional recipe uses just sugar and [[cream]]. More modern recipes substitute condensed milk and butter for the cream, as cream has a tendency to burn when boiled.

==Names==
Tablet is sometimes referred to as ''Swiss Milk tablet'' (Swiss Milk being a term used by some for [[condensed milk]])<ref name="SWRI">S.W.R.I. (1977). ''S.W.R.I. Jubilee Cookery Book''. Edinburgh: [[Scottish Women's Rural Institutes]]; Reprint of 8th Edition (1968), p180</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= |date=2011-02-01 |title=Swiss Milk Tablet 1935 |url=http://bygone.dundeecity.gov.uk/recipies/swiss-milk-tablet-1935 |access-date=2013-06-05 |website=Bygone Dundee |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://eatscotland.visitscotland.com/food-drink/traditional/tablet/ |title=Tablet &#124; VisitScotland Food and Drink |publisher=Eatscotland.visitscotland.com |access-date=2013-06-05}}</ref> or ''butter tablet''.

== See also ==
* [[Barfi]]
* ''[[Dulce de leche]]''
* [[Caramel]]
* [[Penuche]]

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="DSL">{{cite web | editor-last = Rennie | editor-first = Susan  | title = Dictionary of the Scots Language (DSL) | url = http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tablet | access-date = 2009-05-27 }}</ref>
<ref name="Macgreegor">{{cite book | last = Bell | first = John Joy | author-link = John Joy Bell | title = Wee Macgreegor | year = 1903 | pages = 8–9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=U8SuhZDTVPUC&q=taiblet&pg=PA8 | isbn = 9780559576188}}</ref>
<ref name="Scottish tablet Company">{{cite web | title = Scottish Tablet Company | url = http://www.scottishtabletcompany.co.uk/ | access-date = 2011-03-12 }}</ref>
<ref name="scots_kitchen">{{cite book |last1=McNeill |first1=F. Marian |title=The Scots Kitchen |date=1963 |publisher=Morrison and Gibb Limited |location=London and Edinburgh |page=244 |edition=second}}</ref>
</references>

==External links==
* [http://purl.oclc.org/NET/scruss/scots_tablet Tablet recipe]

{{Scottish cuisine}}
{{Traditional British sweets}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Scottish confectionery]]


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