Baked pumpkin “fondue” is as easy as pie.

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+ some other ingredients

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then it’s time for

and… ta-da

So, where have I been lately?

I have been filling forms with personal information at different locations at different times. You know how it goes…

One of the questions is “Occupation” and I’ve been trying different answers like Homemaker, CEO of Remodeling, and , more recently, I’ve been using “Keeps Changing”. So, this is what I’ve been up to lately.

Yes, also, during summer–we only had 1 month of summer this year, yikes!–I’ve been focused more on home, and family, and outdoor activities. I was on the go, go , go not to waste a moment of sunshine indoors. It was quite breathtaking.

Anywhoo……….. we got to fall-soon-to-be-winter time which is, you know, the perfect time to snuggle indoors and to make baked pumpkin stuffed with somethin’.

I love Melissa Clark’s (NY Times food writer) recipe in her cookbook “In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite “ because it’s vegetarian and it has wine and cream (Although I used less bread and only 1/2 the liquid “filling”, baked at lower temperature and…). I liked Tea & Cookies idea to add something green and so i have added kale since I figured the kids are not going to eat this stuffed, sweet, savory, creamy pumpkin anyway–leafy greens included or not–and this is what I have done:

Baked Pumpkin “Fondue”
Serves 4 to 6

2 thick slices of crusty, stale bread (any that you like with sauce-soaking abilities)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine (anything you like to drink ‘cause the flavor will come through)
1/8 cup milk
1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed
3 fresh sage leaves, if you have it, or thyme (if you have it)
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus additional for the outside
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (3-4 pound) sugar pumpkin, washed and cleaned from the outside
a few kale leaves, washed, dried and sliced (without the “ribs”)
5 ounces grated Gruyère cheese (1¼ cups)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F and toast the bread until golden brown 5 to 7 (or do this in a toaster) then tear the bread to pieces.

In a medium saucepan. bring the cream, wine, milk, garlic, and sage to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Take the mixture off the heat and discard
the garlic and sage. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt, nutmeg, and pepper.
Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the pulp and seeds like you do for Halloween. Set the pumpkin inside a baking dish/sheet/pan.

In a bowl, mix the bread, kale, and gruyere. Fill the pumpkin with this bread mix. Pour the cream mixture on top. Cover with the pumpkin lid.

With your hands, rub oil all over the outside of the pumpkin (don’t forget the bottom) and sprinkle on some salt.
Bake until the pumpkin’s skin blisters and the flesh is tender (test with a small pairing knife) about 1 hour to 1 ¼ hours. Allow to cool in the pan slightly. Slice to serve.

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Originally, I had nothing to say about it. Too easy to create, too quick to make, there was no opportunity to blurt a word out before it was done. But it’s beauty too astounding to ignore, I had to share. Its expected tart sweet gorgeous tang, I could not wait until Thanksgiving.

Yes, I’m talking about cranberry sauce/relish/chutney/?/whatever you call, it seems to be a side effect of Thanksgiving(?) A third player (?) to the turkey and line of multiple traditional side dishes?

Well well well, life can be unfair sometime if you’re a teeny tiny cranberry. So here I come to the rescue, bringing it closer to the center of attention.

Now, doesn’t this look better?!

You can:

Eat it for breakfast (with yogurt)

Add it to a sandwich (forget about the butter, the mayo)

Lick it as is from a spoon

Add it to ice cream

Or cake…

But by all means, don’t wait for Thanksgiving!

And above all, don’t forget about it afterwards!

Isn’t it dreamy?!

Making this relish is really an act of gathering and simmering. Simple goodness.

Now, go on, get to it. Hurry hurry. Don’t wait.

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In case you missed them, check out the recipes for Pumpkin banana cream pie and Pumpkin banana creamy dreamy dessert!

More recipes for the holiday/s from one year ago: Apple, Cinnamon and Walnuts Cake, Thanksgiving-y Chicken Dinner, Holiday Food – Appetizers, Cranberry Cake, Warm Winter Herbal Tea

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Cranberry-apple relish

Based on a recipe from “Wolfgang Puck Makes it Easy”
Makes about 2 cups

2 cups fresh cranberries, picked through, washed and drained
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped small
2/3 cup sugar (use as much as you like, more/less)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons (from 1  whole) lemon juice

Put all the ingredients in a (non-aluminum*) small saucepan. Mix and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture thickens, stirring from time to time. The relish will thicken a bit more when it cools.

Transfer to a non-metal container, cover, and refrigerate.

Note #1, aluminium interacts with acidic food and makes it taste yucky.

Note #2, you can add the traditional spices if you like.

How would you like to have these for your holiday dinner?

Remember the Pumpkin banana cream pie? The recipe is here. So this is what you do when you don’t want pie (skip the dough step), or if you do make the pie but have extra custards.

I mentioned a shortcut in the pie post – if you’re not the making custard from scratch type, use instant vanilla pudding. Some people have already asked me how I would do that after publishing the pie post. Well, Jessie and I did not try it in our recipe, but if I did, I would try doing this:

1. Make the pudding according to the instructions on the package. Quantity wise, I don’t know if you’ll need 1 or 2 packets, so you’ll have to try it.

2. Whip 1-2 cups heavy cream to semi-firm peaks. Mix 1/3 of the whipped cream with the pumpkin ingredients, a 1/3 with the vanilla cream, and a 1/3 leave as is=plain whipped cream, so you have three colorful layers.

3. If you do try this, please report back, OK?

It sure makes an elegant and festive dessert for the holiday and can serve a large party of guests.

However, if you do want to spend some time and make this from scratch version, here’s the recipe.

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Pumpkin banana creamy dreamy dessert

Makes about 8-10 martini glasses, or more if serving smaller portions

For the vanilla pastry cream:
2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise or 1 teaspoon extract/paste
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

For the pumpkin custard layer:
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
A pinch ground nutmeg
3 extra-large egg yolks
1 package (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 ripe banana, finely mashed
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice

For whipped cream:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons brandy

1-2 bananas thinly sliced or a few dried banana chips, for decoration, optional

For the vanilla pastry cream:

Warm the milk in a medium saucepan until it almost comes to a boil. Add the vanilla. (If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean and add both the seeds and pod to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir occasionally.)

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour until well combined. Temper the eggs (to keep them from scrambling) by pouring about 1/3 cup of the scalded milk into the egg mixture while whisking. Then add the warmed egg mixture to the saucepan of milk. Whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more.

Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts. (Remove and discard the vanilla pod.) Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and place it over a bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until it is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming and refrigerate until completely cold. The pastry cream will thicken as it cools.

For the pumpkin layer:

Heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, ginger, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly (so the eggs to scramble) until it reaches 160 F degrees. Remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup orange juice (or water). Add the dissolved gelatin, banana, and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to chill in the fridge or use the same ice bath technique as with the vanilla cream.

For the whipped cream:

In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream with the sugar and brandy on medium-high speed until firm peaks form.

To assemble:

When the custards are cooled, assemble by layering the fresh bananas in the bottom of a glass/bowl. Spoon with vanilla cream on top. Next, add the pumpkin custard, and last spoon the whipped cream. Decorate with banana chips or fresh banana slices (add them only shortly before serving). Let set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

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As far as my memory goes back in time, I can count the times I baked with someone on one hand. I don’t get too many opportunities to bake together with family or friends besides my son (who sometimes quits before the process is complete) or an occasional guest. Baking means a lot to me. (This is why I’m starting to think about teaching baking classes!) Having something home-baked is like going the extra mile when it comes to making a home. (I’m not saying it has to be made from scratch.) And baking with someone you like, or even LOVE, is the best combination of all things good.  This week, I got to bake with Jessie.

I met Jessie, a.k.a the Cakespy a few times at Foodbuzz and Frantic Foodie events and every time I had a chance to talk with her, I liked her more. I can’t remember how we got to this idea of getting together to make a pumpkin pie, but we did. It was lots of fun and we made a one terrific pumpkin pie creation together! Look at these layers of beauty…

Don’t you feel like diving right into that pillowy layer of whipped cream flavored with brandy and making a snow angle? Or poking the pumpkin custard with your finger and licking it? Or, if showing better manners, getting a big tablespoon and digging right into the vanilla layer? Don’t you?!

Well, Jessie had a hard time waiting for the custards to set and photos being taken, and right after we took a few photos of the pie, she wanted to cut right into it and sample a slice.

While I was still trying to capture a good, better, best picture.

That’s me. Photo by Cakespy.

Thank you, Jessie!

I know some of you out there, including my dear friends and family, will never cook a custard from scratch. And yes, this pie does have a few steps involved in its creation. Each one really easy on its own, but I admit, it was much easier and faster to make this together than if I had to do it all by myself. All alone in the kitchen…

But no worries, you know me, I always have shortcuts and a few tricks up my sleeve to make your life easier, no? I’ve got 3 words for you: instant. vanilla. pudding. You can use it instead of making the custards. Mix half with the pumpkin ingredients, and half with whipped cream.

And go visit Jessie’s sweet blog, Cakespy, to see what she wrote about this fabulous pie.

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Pumpkin banana cream pie

The pumpkin custard is based on an Ina Garten’s Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart and the vanilla custard is based on Tom Douglas’s Coconut cream pie (- the coconut + banana).

We used an 11-inch tart pan but you can use a regular pie pan. In any case, you probably will have some extra custard which you can layer and serve in pretty little bowls, as you can see here Pumpkin banana creamy dreamy dessert.

For an 11-inch tart pan + extra custard to fill 3 bowls/martini glasses

For the dough:
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
2 egg yolks
¾ cup banana chips, crushed to bits in food processor

For the vanilla pastry cream:
2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise or 1 teaspoon extract/paste
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

For the pumpkin custard layer:
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
A pinch ground nutmeg
3 extra-large egg yolks
1 package (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 ripe banana, finely mashed
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice

For whipped cream:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons brandy

1-2 bananas thinly sliced

For the dough:

Pulse butter, sugar, and flour in a food processor, or do it with hands, until you get big crumbs. Add the yolks, pulse until the crumbs are moist. Press into a generously greased 11-inch tart pan. Press the crushed banana chips into dough. Refrigerate covered for ½ hour.
Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes.

For the coconut pastry cream:

Warm the milk in a medium saucepan until it almost comes to a boil. Add the vanilla. (If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean and add both the seeds and pod to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir occasionally.)

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour until well combined. Temper the eggs (to keep them from scrambling) by pouring about 1/3 cup of the scalded milk into the egg mixture while whisking. Then add the warmed egg mixture to the saucepan of milk. Whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more.

Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts. (Remove and discard the vanilla pod.) Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and place it over a bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until it is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming and refrigerate until completely cold. The pastry cream will thicken as it cools.

For the pumpkin layer:

Heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, ginger, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly (so the eggs to scramble) until it reaches 160 F degrees. Remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup orange juice (or water). Add the dissolved gelatin, banana, and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to chill in the fridge or use the same ice bath as the vanilla cream.

For the whipped cream:

In an electric mixer with the whisk, whip the heavy cream with the sugar and brandy on medium-high speed until firm peaks form.

To assemble:

When the custards and dough are cooled, assemble the pie by layering the fresh bananas on top of the dough. Then spoon with vanilla cream on top, smoothing the surface. Next, add the pumpkin custard, and last spoon the whipped cream. Decorate with banana chips or fresh banana slices (add fresh banana only shortly before serving so they don’t brown). Let pie set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Really, it’s easy as pie. But much easier, and funner, when you make it together with a friend.

Coming up next, this…

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