In fact, the earliest fudge-like recipe dates to the early eighteenth century, where it was published as Scots Tablet in “The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie.” Lady Baillie’s version was based on sugar and cream, and had a slightly more crystalline and crumbly texture than the smooth, chocolate versions that became common in the Eastern U.S. in the nineteenth century.
This fudge recipe is an all-American departure from the usual chocolate varieties. The texture is so smooth and creamy that it is difficult to believe it actually contains pumpkin. This pumpkin fudge is a wonderful holiday recipe, either as a treat to nibble or a gift to share. Fudge recipes using marshmallow cream, as this one does, are somewhat simpler and more reliable to make than old-fashioned recipes that use only sugar, because the texture of the finished fudge will come from the marshmallow cream rather than relying on the sometimes tricky process of crystallizing the sugar perfectly.
You will need:
- 3 cups sugar
- 12 oz. white chocolate
- ¾ cup melted butter
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk
- 7 oz. marshmallow cream
- ½ cup canned pumpkin
- 2 tbsp. corn syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Directions:
- Prepare an 8x11 inch pan by lining it with aluminum foil. Make the piece of aluminum foil longer than the pan itself, so that there are foil “handles” overlapping the edge of the pan. Grease well.
- Stir together the sugar, white chocolate, melted butter, evaporated milk, marshmallow cream, and canned pumpkin in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue to cook the mixture until it reaches the soft-ball stage, 234 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. This will take approximately twelve minutes of cooking and constant stirring.
- Remove from heat and stir in the corn syrup, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and chopped pecans. Pour into the pan and let it cool at room temperature for about ten minutes; then move the pan to the fridge and let it cool completely, about two hours.
- To serve, lift the fudge out of the pan by the foil handles, and turn upside down on a clean counter. Peel the foil off, turn the fudge right side up, and cut into small squares. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
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