Sawsan Abu Farha @ Chef in disguise Dessert, Vegetarian

Pumpkin coconut milk pudding and candied pumpkins

To make up for my absence these past couple of weeks, I bring you two of my favorite pumpkin desserts. Pumpkin coconut pudding and Turkish candied pumpkin. Quick, easy desserts and a refreshing change from the usual recipes you see pumpkin in.In my next post I will be sharing a third pumpkin recipe but on the savory end of the spectrum, Abu Basti “pumpkin chickpeas stew” is a wonderful main meal for those cold rainy days. Along with it I will be sharing a round up of pumpkin recipes from my favorite blogs, so if you are a fan of pumpkin, do stay tuned.

Before I get to the recipes I would like to thank my wonderful readers who have asked about me and wanted to make sure that I was OK. I am deeply touched by your concern. I was  away partly because  I was glued to the TV following the news in Jordan, Gaza and the whole volatile middle east. Added to that, my daughter’s 8th birthday was on the 20th and I had promised her a strawberry shortcake house cake and a party for her school friends.. here is a sneak peek of the cake

Added to that are the usual balls I juggle all the time work, home, the kids…etc.   I am truly sorry for my continuous delay in replying to your wonderful comments or visiting your amazing blogs. I am doing my best to catch up and again, thank you kindly to all of those who took the time to check on me 🙂

Pumpkin coconut pudding

This recipe is one of those happy accidents in the kitchen. You know when you start out with one recipe and end up with another one because of a series of mishaps or things that did not exactly go as planned but you love the outcome so much that you start making “the mistake” instead of the original recipe? Well this is one of those accidents!

It started out with an attempt to make my friend Tanja’s wonderful pumpkin and coconut jam. The minute I saw that jam I knew I wanted to try it. The recipe asked for Hokkaido pumpkin but these are not available here so I thought I would replace them with regular pumpkins. Everything was going fine up to the point of pureeing the pumpkin. At that point the pumpkin turned into almost liquid consistency and there was no way that this could pass as a jam. I tasted it and it tasted amazing! creamy almost velvety in texture, the pumpkin and coconut flavor match is one you must try if you have not done so. I decided to turn this into a pudding by adding cornstarch as a thickening agent and it worked like a charm.

Ingredients:
500 grams of  pumpkin peeled and cut into cubes
250 ml unsweetened coconut milk
130 – 180  grams of  sugar (depending on how sweet you would like it to be)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
For decorating
grated, unsweetened coconut

Instructions

Place pumpkin cubes with coconut milk in pot, cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Puree the pumpkin
Add the sugar, cook over medium heat while stirring for 5 minutes (or until the sugar dissolves)
Dissolve the cornstarch in the water
Add the dissolved cornstarch to the pumpkin puree while stirring
Cook over medium heat while stirring continuously until the mix comes to a boil (10-15 minutes), continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes
Take off the heat and pour into your serving plates, allow to cool before you place it in the fridge to set
Serve decorated with grated coconut
Notes
I personally enjoyed mixing the grated coconut into the pudding, there was something irresistible about the texture contrast between the velvety pudding and the grated coconut. Plus that helped to highlight the coconut component of the pudding. The kids on the other hand loved the pudding as is with no additions.

Candied pumpkin

This is a Turkish dessert called Kabak tatlisi. It is often flavored with cloves but I personally favor it with cinnamon

500 grams pumpkin, peeled and cut into cubes

1/2 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

Instructions

sprinkle the sugar over the pumpkin cubes and allow it to stand for a couple of hours

The sugar will draw out the pumpkin fluids

Place the pumpkins with the fluids into a pot, add the cinnamon stick.

Cook over low heat until the pumpkin cubes become soft and most of the fluids have been absorbed (about 30 minutes)

Serve topped with chopped pistachios, pecans or your nut of choice

Notes

Cut the pumpkin into pieces of even thickness. This will ensure they all cook at the same time. If you don’t, some pieces will be over cooked while others are still half cooked

Coming soon: