Pumpkin and Carrot Fudge - Ouch, my fingers hurt!

My hands are wet and hurting as I type this, reason? Playing in and with snow without gloves on, nope! Not a good idea... but really couldn't resist! :)

Here goes one more of my own recipes, oh! the pleasure it gives me to create something new...
Why and how I came up with this is pretty simple, the pureed pumpkin and carrot (when cooked) share a similar flavor, slightly sweet and yet it has a earthy feel to it. And I thought why not marry those two together and make something sweet!
Carrots are widely used in Indian cooking especially in desserts, so I was pretty sure about how this was going to taste... Good!

I did write vaguely about the sugar measurement in this recipe, as the carrots in itself are pretty sweet, so I added little less than half a cup for this recipe. But I leave it completely up to your discretion to add more or less.
Normally I would have let the sugar melt and let it come to a soft candy stage and then go about adding the other ingredients, but since the amount of sugar used is pretty low, I had to follow a different method.
Anyway, who cares how I got there, it tastes good, and that is all what matters.



Pumpkin and Carrot Fudge

Ingredients:

Pumpkin puree (no sugar added) - 2 cups
Carrot - 2 cups (finely grated)
Non fat milk powder - 3-4 cups
Melted butter/Ghee - 2 tbsp
Sugar - To taste
Cardamom - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg - Two pinches (grated)
Slivered Almonds - A little to garnish

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pan, or a good non stick pan, mix the pumpkin puree, sugar and carrot on medium heat. Cover and cook for about 30 min. Stir a couple of times in between.

Once all the water has evaporated and the carrot is cooked, start adding the milk powder.
Add milk powder a little at a time and keep stirring on low-medium heat. Add the melted butter.
Let it cook for about 45 min. Sirring every now and then is important. Add nutmeg and cardamom and mix.

Turn off heat and transfer onto a greased pan (which is couple of inches high) and spread evenly and press down with the back of a spoon.
Garnish with some slivered almonds on top, and again press them slightly down, or they will fall off the fudge.

Let it cook completely. Cut into desired shapes, bar, squares or diamonds and serve.
It is a fudge, so expect it to be semi-soft.