Pumpkin Party!

Pumpkin +Sugar + Love = PARTY!

My sister bought me a pumpkin. Quite unexpectedly. We took a study break and wandered down the aisles of Tesco, in search of Haagen-Dazs, grapefruit juice and other such treats. We met at the counter, where my sister presented me with a pumpkin.

This pumpkin has sat in my flat for a couple of days now… Halloween has passed, so I won’t be carving a jack-o-lantern out of it. I thought about making some soup before deciding that a Pumpkin Pudding would be a far more satisfying treat! Lets face it… the pumpkin-y custard of a pumpkin pie is the yummiest part! So taking out the crust, one is left with a delicious pudding that’s gluten free to boot!! That along with some sweet and salty pumpkin seeds… An autumnal treat at its finest! When it came to baking the treat itself, it seemed only fitting to rope in my beautiful sister who brought the pumpkin into my life.

First, we have to make the pumpkin puree…. Super easy to do. Just chop the pumpkin in half, scoop the seeds out, then place each pumpkin half cut-side down on a baking tray. Bake in a 180°C for 40 minutes before taking out the pumpkins and leaving to cool. Once cooled, the flesh of the pumpkin should scoop out easily. Put the scooped out, now-cooled pumpkin into a food processor and blitz until the consistency is smooth. And now… ONTO THE PUDDING!! So unbelievably easy to make… and ridiculously easy to eat too!

Ingredients:

450ml of pumpkin puree

340g of evaporated milk

1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder

½ tablespoon nutmeg

2 eggs

½ cup of brown sugar

½ cup of white sugar

icing sugar

Preheat oven to 220°C. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until completely smooth and combined. Pour liquid into individual ramekins. Prepare a bain-marie by pouring boiling water into a deep baking tray. Carefully place the custard-filled ramekins in the bain-marie and bake at 220°C for 10 minutes before turning the heat down to 170°C. Bake for a further 30 minutes. Take the ramekins out of the bain-marie and leave to cool for 10 minutes before sprinkling a little icing sugar. Now, devour!!

Baking away in their little bath...

Fresh out of the oven... and a little puffy...

Cooled and ready to eat!!

P.S. To take this pudding up one notch and transform it into a crème brûlée, simply sprinkle some sugar over the top and broil it under the grill. Et voila!

P. P. S. With the leftover pumpkin puree I made a simple pumpkin cookie with a maple glaze... delicious!