Pumpkins have their moment every October. We all know the virtues of eating pumpkin: abundant anti-cancer beta-carotene, vitamin A, low calories, some iron, and a good dose of potassium for blood pressure regulation. This month you can find pumpkin in everything from waffles to pasta, coffee drinks and ice cream. If that’s not enough, here comes National Pumpkin Pie Day, which falls on Wednesday, October 12 this year. Pumpkin pies are easy to purchase in stores, but usually contain some questionable ingredients for shelf life stability. Why dilute the healthy benefits of pumpkin? I recommend you make your own. And if you, like me, have never been a big fan of pumpkin pie (it’s a texture thing) you can still create a pumpkin dessert that will be a worthy contribution to the festivities. I’ve rounded up a few to try.
Lemon pumpkin pie
This variation uses yogurt, skim milk and egg substitute to cut down on fat. And there’s no tasteless crust. Recipe from “The Healing Foods Cookbook;” makes eight servings.
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup egg substitute
3/4 cup evaporated skim milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
Coat a 9-inch pie pan with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, beat together the pumpkin, egg substitute, milk, maple syrup, and spices. Pour into pie pan; bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, lemon juice and lemon rind; spread on top of pie and chill until set.
Pumpkin walnut fudge
You can substitute pecans if you prefer, but make sure you follow the recipe closely to get a good consistency. Recipe from Gourmet magazine; makes about two pounds.
4 cups sugar
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup fresh pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin puree
Salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups chopped walnuts
Butter a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside. In a 4-quart heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, corn syrup, pumpkin puree and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Cook, undisturbed, until a candy thermometer registers 238 degrees. Remove pan from the heat; add the butter (do not stir it into the mixture>) Let mixture cool until it is 140 degrees. Stir in the vanilla and the nuts, beat mixture with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until it begins to lose its gloss, then pour it immediately into the buttered pan. Let fudge cool until it begins to harden, then cut it into squares and let cool completely. Fudge will keep, stored between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container, in a cool place for two weeks.
Pumpkin bread pudding
This is actually two desserts in one. You can make the pumpkin bread as a tea cake (up to three days in advance) and add the easy-to-make custard to create a comforting bread pudding. Recipe from “The Union Square Café Cookbook;” makes six-eight servings.
Bread:
1 cup currants
3 tablespoons dark rum
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4cups sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine currants and rum; place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, set aside to plump currants for 5-10 minutes. Butter and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Place pumpkin puree in another bowl. Strain currants into a colander held over the bowl and incorporate the rum into the pumpkin; set currants aside. Cream the butter and sugar in another bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; gradually add eggs until well mixed. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with pumpkin puree, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir in currants. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan; bake 1 hour, 40 minutes, until firm to the touch. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto wire rack; cool completely.
Custard:
2 1/2 cups half and half
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
In a medium saucepan, mix half and half, sugar and ginger; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; steep ginger for 20 minutes, strain and reserve. Whisk eggs and vanilla until foamy. Whisk in the half and half mixture until thoroughly blended. To assemble pudding, cut loaf of pumpkin bread in half lengthwise. Wrap one half and refrigerate or freeze for another use. Cut remaining half into 16 square slices, then cut each square diagonally to make 32 triangles. In a shallow, 12×7-inch oval baking dish, arrange triangles cut side down in overlapping rows to fill dish completely. Pour the custard around pumpkin bread, keeping the top edges dry. Sprinkle cinnamon over; set aside for 10 minutes. Place baking dish in a large roasting pan and fill pan with water to come halfway up sides of dish. Bake in center of oven for 45-50 minutes until custard is set around edges yet slightly soft toward center. Remove from water as soon as taken from oven; dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm.