sweet pumpkin musings (followed by dessert)
Ever since I was gifted this glorious pumpkin (as a trade off for vegan baking secrets) I have been obsessed with roast pumpkin. It has been my first real foray into cooked foods this year (!) after being a fruit-munching fiend on (my version of) the 80/10/10 regime. I’m not one to ignore a good craving, so I have been on a bit of a roast pumpkin bender.
Interestingly, cooked pumpkin has been easily worked into my high carb diet, with no ill effects on my digestion. When you cook starchy vegetables, the starch is converted to sugar, thus making it readily digestable by the body – hooray! Plus the sweet, caramel-like qualities of roast pumpkin are hard to resist.
There’s so much to love about savoury pumpkin dishes, but I’m all about the sweets. The flavour, the creamy texture, the colour…. an amazing (healthful) ingredient to add to desserts, not to mention get some fussy-eaters onto the pumpkin-train.
Any time I need comfort food, I tend to favour a baby-food consistency – not sure why…. perhaps reverting back to memories of childhood? Mashed potato, custard, thick soups, porridge, puddings – all a similar texture, are comforting, and are childhood staples, am I right? For a dessert recipe, I like to slow-roast my pumpkin at a reduced temperature – this really intensifies the sweetness. Spread evenly sized pieces of pumpkin on a baking tray (no oil, no nothing) and bake at about 150 degrees c until super tender (about 40 minutes depending on the water content of your pumpkin – just stab with a fork every 10 minutes or so).
In the recipe I use coconut milk kefir for added tang and beneficial bacteria, but regular coconut milk would be fine to use. For those not in a season conducive to pumpkin-eating, I reckon sweet potato would work, although you may need more liquid/sweetener.
Sweet Pumpkin Mousse
(Vegan, gluten/wheat/corn/soy/grain/refined sugar free)
- 2c roast pumpkin
- 3T coconut butter
- 6 medjool dates (or 2T maple syrup/liquid sweetener of choice)
- 1/4t ground cinnamon
- 1/2t pure vanilla extract (optional)
- Pinch sea salt
- 1/2-1c coconut milk kefir/plain coconut milk (or plain non dairy milk of choice)
- 2t lemon juice
- Blend all ingredients together, adding the liquid (milk) bit by bit until you reach your desired texture.
- Store in the fridge.
Speaking of baby food – this would make an excellent baby/toddler dessert. It has been Misty approved, that’s for sure.
You can even store this in tiny baby-food-like jars to truly indulge your fantasy.
18 Responses to “sweet pumpkin musings (followed by dessert)”
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Vegan. Stay at home Mum of Misty. Yoga teacher in training. Passionate about REAL food - creating it, eating it, sharing it. I can never stick to a recipe.
so doing this with my massive pumpkin !
Ha, I just thought of you and the pumpkin…. yum I forgot how good pumpkin is
I may or may not have already eaten 2 batches of this stuff.
This really is such a great desert. Loved it loads.
Thanks Minnie!
I haven’t experimented much with pumpkin desserts, but I sense I would love them. Thanks for the tip about slow roasting and I’m glad you’re enjoying your pumpkin sweetness!
Oh yes, SO good
You must try!
I’d almost feel bad carving into a beautiful pumpkin like that! But worth it for the mousse.
PS I finally found washing soda locally! Yippee!
Oh hooray RE washing soda!
The pumpkin was home grown too (by my boss) which makes it all the sweeter in my opinion
Ooh, this reminds me of a recipe I’ve been meaning to get up since November! Mine is the junkier version though
As long as you didn’t mix pumpkin with chocolate covered potato chips! Ha, that almost sounds like something I would do
mmm I LOVE pumpkin ANYTHING. For real. Thankfully Holden shares my pumpkin obsession.
I’ve said it before – your boy has good taste!
this looks all sorts of yum!
i want to make some of your recipes for my niece (year and 2 months) and i think this will be a good place to start. i want to introduce her to healthy, nourishing food at a young age.
p.s. i watched your vlogs and omg! you’re accent is so great! i love it!
Thanks Lou
This recipe is fabulous for kids – it’s tastes sweet (little ones LOVE sweet!) but no refined sugar, plus the healthy fat from the coconut – Misty is a big fan.
Ha, I get teased about my funny accent a LOT…. half Aussie, half Kiwi, it’s a weird one
Woah you freak me out! I just finished making a pumpkin pie then did a check up on the blogs I follow and lo we’re on the same wavelength – again! Awesomeness this recipe looks yum as x
Well, you know what they say about great minds, huh? Your pie looked fabulous – love a good buckwheat base…. I like finding alternatives to the nut bases – and yeah I’m slightly addicted to buckwheat
Where’s YOUR recipe?! I want to try!
Pumpkin is definitely a year round food for me!! NOT just for holidays, this stuff is too good to eat once a year! YUM!
Oh for SURE, Britt, for sure…. we are spoilt in Aussie, pumpkin is available most of the time, hooray. Massive congrats on your race too – you are a star!