Recipe // Pumpkin

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It's nearly Halloween guys!! Which can only mean one thing ... Pumpkin Carving Party! Ever since I moved to London, I have Carved a Pumpkin with my lovely other half, and last year we had our friends over to join us! We ate Halloweeny food, got the knives out and carved these bad boys! ...

We had so much fun carving them, although I was left with a lot of Pumpkin insides that I did not know what to do with ... But this time I will be prepared and here are some ideas and recipes for your Pumpkin leftovers!

Firstly we have the seeds:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds are so yummy, and so easy to make (Once you have separated them from the rest of the Pumpkin!)

Step 1: Clean the Pumpkin seeds, and leave them to dry for a few hours in a tea towel, or kitchen roll

Step 2: Place them on a foiled baking tray with a couple of glugs of your favourite type of oil (I use coconut) and add your seasonings ...

A few ideas are;

Brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for sweet seeds

Sat, chilli, cayenne and cumin for little mexican seeds

Or plain Salt and Pepper for simple seeds

Step 3: Bake them in the oven at 190-200 degrees celsius, for 30-45minutes and VOILA!

Then we move on to the Pumpkin Insides;

Pumpkin Puree

You can substitute canned Pumpkin with real Pumpkin puree, in most recipes, see below. Jack 'O' Lanterns or Carving Pumpkins do not have the same flavour as smaller pie Pumpkins, but you can get a similar flavour ...

Ingredients:

- Pumpkin Flesh

- Pumpkin Spice Mix (1\4 Cup Cinnamon, 4 teaspoons Nutmeg, 4 teaspoons Ginger & 1 tablespoon allspice)

Method:

To make Pumpkin puree from the real Pumpkins, roast the insides of the Pumpkin, not the guts, or the seeds. Just the fleshy bits until they become tender. When they are tender you need to get rid of some the excess moisture. This can be squeezed out in a colander or to get more flavour in to the puree then roast it in a pan, or a slow cooker with some Pumpkin Spice Mix to taste, on a low heat, until the moisture evaporates, and caramelised or browned.

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:
- 2 Onions
- 1kg Chopped Pumpkin
- 750ml Stock (Vegetable is best)
- Pot of Single Cream

Method:
Finely chop the onions and fry in a pan for 5minutes, then add in the pumpkin. Cook for a further 10-15 minutes or until it turns golden.
Add in the vegetable stock and season, bring to the boil, then simmer for 30-45 minutes.
Pour in the cream, bring to the boil again, simmer for 10 minutes then blend.
Serve with a swirl of cream, some roasted pumpkin seeds and some fresh bread!
Mmmmmmmmmmm

And for desert ...

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Ingredients:
- 200g Plain Flour
- 1tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp Pumpkin Spice Mix (From above)
- 125g Caster Sugar
- 100g Light Brown Sugar
- 120ml Vegetable Oil
- 2 large eggs
- 180g Pumpkin Puree

Method:
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius
Mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt and Pumpkin Spice together in one bowl
In another mix together the caster sugar, and brown sugar with the oil.
Mix in the eggs one at a time, then add in the pumpkin and vanilla.
Once fully mixed, add in the flour mixture slowly until well blended.
Place into 12 cupcake cases, filing each 2/3 of the way up
Bake for 25 minutes and leave to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
- 225g cream cheese at room temperature
- 110g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 350g icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Whip together the cream cheese and the butter until smooth and fluffy, then add in the vanilla extract and icing sugar and whip until light and fluffy. Leave in the fridge for around half n hour, then put icing into a piping bag and pipe on to completely cooled cupcakes.

Right well I better go an research what I will be carving this year!!

What are your Halloween traditions?