Рецепт Recipes | Quick Caramelized Pumpkin Butter and a No-Bake Eggless Pumpkin Pudding – When The Equation of Life Changes..
There comes a time when priorities win over passion and you stand confused and run-down staring at the golden opportunities pass by.
When the equation of life changes…
A senior person from a popular holiday resorts in India approached me to get involved in a photo shoot project some days back. A few phone calls and mails from them made it clear that it is going to be a large scale project. The project required more than a weeks involvement and a few out door shoots as well. I asked for some time to think over it, and from then started days of ‘should I’ or ‘ shouldn’t I’ ordeal.
Though there were no constraints from anyone at home, I could not imagine leaving children on their own for such a long time. “You are standing at that stage of life where you have all the luxury of choosing or denying any work. And always remember that you started blogging just to keep your passion alive and not to earn your daily bread from it. So accept the work which comes along with your blogging stint only if you feel you can do justice with it without any guilt”, were the soothing words of wisdom from my hubby who understood my perplexed state of mind.
And I let it go…yes, I passed the project to a friend of mine, with a hope that I will be taking such mega projects once my children are on their own. Times when you need to balance your priorities with your passion without hurting one another.
Life goes on…Well, I made this easy and scrumptious dessert, a No-Bake Eggless Pumpkin Pudding to bring back my cheerful mood again.
Normally it takes long hours to bake Pumpkin pieces and make puree, unless you are using canned pumpkin puree which is not easily available in India. I find this way of caramelizing easy, quick and quite effective as far as the taste of the final recipe goes.
1. Quick Caramelized Pumpkin Butter Recipe
Caramelized pumpkin cubes..
This caramelized Pumpkin butter could be used as a healthy spread in sandwiches or to make cakes, breads, fudge and many other bakes.
Ingredients;
(1 small jar)
- 2 cups pumpkin cubes
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (optional)
- 1 tbsp. clarified butter/ghee
- Spices;
- 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg power
- 1/4 tsp. dry ginger powder
- Yummy Pumpkin butter…
Method; Heat clarified butter/ghee in a heavy bottom pan and add cubed pumpkin pieces in it. Saute the cubes on medium heat for 10 minutes till they turn brown or look caramelized. This step is essential to get a distinct taste of caramelized pumpkin in the pudding.
Puree the caramelized pumpkin cubes in a blender.
Combine the pumpkin puree with rest of the ingredients and bring it to simmer in the same pan. Let it simmer for 20-25 minutes until the sauce becomes thick. Take care to keep stirring the thick sauce all the time, to avoid getting the pumpkin puree burnt.
You could use 2 tbsp of lemon juice to replace the apple cider vinegar in the recipe.
A spoonful of yum!
Remove the thickened pumpkin butter from heat. Take small glass bottles and wipe it completely. Fill them with the hot Pumpkin butter and let it cool before closing the lid. Store the pumpkin butter in refrigerator till use. It stays good for upto 2-3 months.
Serve the refreshing Pumpkin butter as a healthy spread on bread slices or in baking pumpkin pies, cakes, cookies, pudding.
2. No-Bake Eggless Pumpkin Pudding
Ingredients;
1 cup roasted pumpkin puree/butter (recipe above)
1 cup soy milk/coconut milk/plain milk
1/4 cup white sugar/brown sugar
2 tbsp. cornflour/cornstarch
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
2 tbsp cream (optional)
Nutmeg and the pumpkin pudding…
Method; Dissolve cornflour (very fine variety which resembles soft talcum powder) or cornstarch in 2 tbsp of cold milk. Pour rest of the milk in a thick bottom pan, bring it to boil and add the corn flour paste in it. Simmer for 5-6 minutes stirring continuously to avoid the thickened milk sticking to the bottom. Take it off from the flame and let it cool.
Add roasted pumpkin puree and all other ingredients, whisk together to make smooth and creamy thick sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes on low flame and take off the heat.
Its creamy and scrumptious in every bite…
Transfer to individual serving bowls and refrigerate for 2-3 hours till the pumpkin pudding become firm. Serve the scrumptious Caramelized Pumpkin Pudding with crushed nuts, fresh cream or caramel sauce.
Notes;
Omit cream and use milk instead to make the pudding a healthy alternative.
Use white sugar if you can’t get light brown sugar.
I used Amul cream in sachet.
You can replace arrowroot powder with corn flour.
As the recipe has no eggs or gelatin in it, the consistency of the pudding is creamy and soft.