While Halloween often goes unobserved by the Amish, that isn't the same for autumn as a whole. The season is one of harvesting and prepping for the looming winter. There's a buzz of activity outdoors, but also a pause and and appreciation of the season's bounty.
Pumpkin provides creative Amish cooks with plenty of opportunity to expressive themselves in the kitchen in a way that embraces autumn.
🍫 Amish and Candy
Christmas and Easter are definitely times when Amish cooks go on a candy making craze. But candies like fudge are enjoyed year-round in Amish kitchens. So you'll find many easy fudge recipes in Amish recipe files.
Fudge is a popular candy in Amish country, and it is often sold at Amish markets and bake sales. Amish fudge is typically made with fresh ingredients, such as lightly salted butter, milk, sugar, and chocolate. It is also known for being rich and creamy. If you ever go to Walnut Creek or Berlin, Ohio, you'll see a lot of homemade candy shops. I love Amish peanut butter fudge!
There are many different recipes for Amish fudge, but they all share some common ingredients. Most Amish fudge recipes call for butter (salted, never unsalted butter), milk, sugar, and chocolate chips. Some recipes also include other ingredients, such as marshmallows, nuts, or dried fruit.
To make Amish fudge, the ingredients are cooked together in a saucepan until they melt and form a thick syrup. The syrup is then poured into a greased pan and allowed to cool and harden. Once the fudge is set, it can be cut into squares and enjoyed.
Amish fudge is a popular treat for all occasions, and it is often given as a gift to friends and family. It is also a popular candy to sell at Amish markets and bake sales.
📜 Step-By-Step Amish Fudge
Okay, this easy pumpkin fudge recipe works. I know it does, because a friend tried it and it was perfect. I tried it, and, well, let's just say that I am not someone who is a champion fudge maker. Never have been. I'm not sure if I don't have the patience, the proper kitchen tools or what. This fudge, though, is delicious.
Let's start at the beginning.
This is me mixing everything in a big pot on the stovetop. I made two batches of fudge, the first one was a flop. The second one was better. But in each case, I made the mistake of not having a candy thermometer. You have to stir constantly until the mixture boils and it hits 235 degrees. Once it starts boiling, I moved the heat down to medium heat. A candy thermometer can guide you on exact times. Don't try to eyeball it like I did.
My first batch was also a fail because I didn't have butter so I just tried to replace it with shortening but that didn't really work. And then I needed my one big pot for something else so I poured the warm fudge mixture into a bowl to cool to lukewarm, 110 degrees. But not sure if that was okay to do.
I used canned 100 percent pumpkin puree, not the pumpkin pie filling. This recipe does not call for any evaporated milk so I didn't use any, I just used whole milk.
So I poured the fudge mixture into a prepared pan to set. Knowing this group, you all will spot some sort of shape in the fudge. Donald Duck? A mermaid?
The recipe calls for just pumpkin pie spice, but I also sprinkled some cinnamon and nutmeg in for good measure and additional flavors.
After about an hour the fudge should lose its gloss and begin to set up. I hope that is what happens to you. My second batch was pretty fudgy, which is a good thing. My first batch didn't set and I ended up giving some to my kids to eat as like a pumpkin parfait. They really liked it like that. So that is my suggestion if it doesn't set.
🍬 More Amish Candy Recipes
The Amish celebrate the season through candy, here are some ways!
Three Amish Candy Recipes From the Settlement in Oakland, Maryland
Butterscotch Cornflake Candy sounds amazing, but so do all three of the recipes!
Quick Amish Christmas Candy Recipes
Quick Christmas wreaths, rice candy, and more!
🖨️ Full Recipe
Amish Pumpkin Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cups white sugar
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup butter
Instructions
- Butter or grease one 8 x 8 inch pan.
- In a 3 quart saucepan, mix together sugar, milk, corn syrup, pumpkin and salt.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
- Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling. Do not stir. When mixture registers 232 degrees F (110 degrees C) on candy thermometer, or forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water,
- remove from pan from heat. Stir in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and butter.
- Cool to lukewarm (110 degrees F or 43 degrees C on candy thermometer.) Beat mixture until it is very thick and loses some of its gloss.
- Quickly pour into a greased 8 x 8 inch pan. When firm cut into 36 squares.
lorraine stoddard
When I was 10 years old we stayed at a relatives farm in Sawyer,Mi. I watched them butcher chickens. That evening chicken was served. I didn't eat it. It was several years before I was able to eat chicken. Great column! I understood how Elizabeth felt about eating chicken.
Theresa Pate
I have always told my husband if we had a herd of animals it was fine for meat but when you have one or two they get named and that means they are pets and we don't eat our pets lol
Yvonne Cook
Congratulations on the baptisms! That is wonderful!
Quick question about the pumpkin fudge....will it come out o.k. with fresh pumpkin puree versus canned?
Thank you in advance for your reply 🙂
Don Majors
Just wondering why Lovina's name doesn't appear either at start or end of column - - - -
Kevin
Inadvertent omission, but it is there now!
Carolyn
When I was a small child we had a guinea hen. It was very pretty, and us kids made a pet of it. Dad was out of a job with seven children to feed, so our guinea hen got picked for dinner. I do not remember any of us kids partaking of this bird at the dinner table. Daddy said he would never do that again. Later on we had a rabbit and chicken farm. We loved to pick up the baby rabbits from the hutch, they were so soft and cute but we never made pets out of them. There were too many.
Ger
I really did think mermaid first!
Kevin Williams
Ah, me too!
Cynthia Bliss
I wonder if you could make it using the Fantasy Fudge recipe with marshmallow crème? And substituting pumpkin purée instead of chocolate?
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (about 2/3 cup) (Do not use sweetened condensed milk.)
12 ounces pumpkin purée
1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme
1 tsp. Vanilla
Let's Make It
1
Line 9-inch square pan with Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Bring sugar, butter and evaporated milk to full rolling boil in 3-qt. saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook 5 min. or until candy thermometer reaches 234°F, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
2
Add pumpkin and marshmallow creme; stir until melted. Add vanilla; mix well.
3
Pour into prepared pan; spread to cover bottom of pan. Cool completely. Use foil handles to lift fudge from pan before cutting into 1-inch squares.
Kevin Williams
That is a good idea, I bet that would work! If you try it, let us know how it turns out. Sounds good!