Spiced Pumpkin Fudge = Angel Pumpkin Delights
Often when I do not want to work or clean or exercise, I think of things to bake. That is generally enough motivation to do whatever I need to do first so that I can reward myself with a new creation in the kitchen. Holy smokes, did I get a great reward the other day for cleaning the kitchen, decorating the house for fall, and going for a very good run. The reward was in the form of these little pieces of spiced pumpkin fudge. I shared some with a very dear friend of mine who stated, "Pumpkin Fudge = Made with the help of angel pumpkins (former Jack-O-Lanterns) in heaven," therefore I have taken to calling them Angel Pumpkin Delights.
They truly are angelic and delightful--I even surprised myself. They taste like the best parts of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and white chocolate fudge combined into one (well, essentially that's what they are). The perfect amount of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger marry with the pumpkin and white chocolate in a pillow of marshmallow creme. This new, innovative, and unique fall dessert is a hit! Also, since they are bite-sized, you can easily limit yourself to one...or in my case have 6 or 7 really small ones.
These Angel Pumpkin Delights are meant to shared! Take to a Halloween party, bring to Thanksgiving dinner, surprise your co-workers or your neighbor...just make them! You will be thrilled that you did. (That was a weak attempt at a Halloween pun.)
Pumpkin Delights:
- 2 cups of granulated sugar
- 1 cup of packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup of butter
- 2/3 cup of evaporated milk
- a heaping 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice
- about 1/8 teaspoon each of cloves, ginger, and nutmeg
- 1 3/4 cups of white chocolate chips
- a heaping 1/4 cup of butterscotch chips
- between 7 and 10 ounces of marshmallow creme (that stuff is impossible to measure)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- Line a 13 x 9 baking pan with nonstick tinfoil.
- Combine the sugar, brown sugar, evaporated milk, pumpkin, butter, and all of the spices in large, nonstick saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
- In the meantime, scoop out the marshmallow creme into a bowl (it is quite a challenge to get it out of the jar and you need to be able to add it all at once and quickly). Also measure out the white chocolate and butterscotch chips.
- The mixture needs to boil for 10 to 12 minutes--until a candy thermometer reaches 235 degrees.
- Once at temperature, quickly stir in the white chocolate and butterscotch chips, marshmallow creme, and vanilla extract.
- Stir vigorously until everything is melted.
- Immediately pour into the prepared pan.
- Let stand on wire rack until you are able to touch it. Then place the whole pan of fudge in the fridge and let it sit until it is completely cooled.
- Use a sharp knife or cookie cutters to cut into pieces. (Make sure you get the nonstick foil off the bottom.)
- ENJOY!!!! Sooooooo good.