As Thanksgiving approaches each year, my daughter asks “how can we retain the traditional elements of the holiday meal but introduce some innovation?” Over the years, my experiments with various turkey dry rubbing, brining and cooking methods and stuffing and dressing preparations and different potato and vegetable combinations were generally successful. I was less successful, however, with desserts. Traditional pumpkin and pecan pies were delicious, but were caloric overkill after a heavy meal. In different years I experimented with chocolate pecan pie, chocolate turtle crèpe torte, cranberry walnut tart, apple cranberry torte, pumpkin flan, pumpkin mousse, pumpkin cake and pumpkin cheesecake. Although each recipe was delicious, my family tasters just picked at dessert and after a few spoonfuls, declared “enough.”
So I am trying something new this year – small portions of a pumpkin trio. Essentially, a dessert composed of three pumpkin-themed sweets – a scoop of a typically American pumpkin ice cream (bought or homemade) on gingerbread and two small pumpkin tastes from Turkish cookery — a candied pumpkin with crème fraîche or Greek yoghurt and pistachios and pumpkin walnut delight, my riff on Turkish delight candy. Each of these recipes can stand alone as a dessert, but together they make a delicious combination of tastes.
Now some will say this dessert combination involves more work than making one pie. Although this pumpkin dessert involves four recipes, each recipe is quick to prepare with the added advantage that each can be made several days ahead of time, and the trio assembled on dessert plates just before serving on Thanksgiving.
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Trio # 1 –Pumpkin Ice Cream on Gingerbread
You can eliminate this step if you can buy pumpkin ice cream to serve on homemade gingerbread, but you can quickly make it, as I did, it following David Lebovitz’ excellent recipe below:
Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream
David Lebovitz’s adaptation from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco & Mindy Fox
1 ½ cup (375 ml) whole milk
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons (95 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon kosher salt|
5 large egg yolks
¼ cup packed (60 g) dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier, rum or brandy
¾ cup (180 g) canned or homemade pumpkin puree (100% pure)
1 tablespoon candied ginger, chopped
Make an ice bath by putting some ice and a little water in a large bowl and nest a smaller metal bowl (one that will hold at least 2 quarts), inside it. Set a mesh strainer over the top.
In a medium saucepan mix milk, cream, granulated sugar, ginger, ground cinnamon, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and salt. Warm mixture until hot and edges begin to bubble and foam.
Whisk egg yolks in a separate bowl and gradually whisk in about half of the warm spiced milk mixture, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back in to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read between 160º-170ºF (71º-76ºC).
Immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the bowl nested in the ice bath. Mix in the brown sugar, then stir until cool, then chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.
Whisk in the vanilla, liquor (if using), and pumpkin puree. Press the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
To serve: scoop into dessert dishes or place scoop on gingerbread (see recipe below) and garnish with a few bits of candied ginger.
Makes 1 quart (1l).
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Margaret Burmark’s Best Gingerbread
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup butter, unsalted
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease, line with parchment, grease again and flour a 9-inch x 13-inch (22cm x 33 cm) sheet pan.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg, and mix in molasses. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a separate bowl. Blend into creamed mixture. Stir in hot water. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 1 hour in preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan. Invert cake on a dishtowel. Peel off parchment paper and cool to room temperature. Cut into square or round portions. Layer gingerbread pieces with parchment in sealable container. Refrigerate tightly sealed until ready to use.
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Trio # 2 – Candied Pumpkin (Balkabağli tatlisi)
Adapted from Ghillie Başan’s Classic Turkish Cookery
2.5 pounds (1 k) fresh pumpkin, peeled and seeded
2 cups sugar
pinch salt
2-3 cinnamon sticks (and other optional spices*)
¼ cup water
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons pistachios or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon Greek yoghurt or crème fraîche or clotted cream for garnish*
Carefully cut pumpkin in half. Clean out seeds and connective membrane and cut pumpkin into 2 inch long strips, trimming were necessary. Cut away hard outer skin with a sharp knife and cut each pumpkin strip into 2-3 pieces.
Line the bottom of a large, shallow covered skillet or saucepan with the pumpkin. Pour sugar evenly over the top. Then sprinkle salt over top, add cinnamon sticks and cover pan. Let pumpkin macerate overnight on kitchen counter. By morning, the sugar will be dissolved in juices released by pumpkin.
Add water and lemon juice. Place pan on stove. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Gently poach the pumpkin to about 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally until pumpkin becomes soft and translucent and liquid is reduced to thick syrup. Cool pumpkin pieces in syrup. Place pumpkin and syrup in jar and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
To serve: Place several pumpkin pieces on a dessert plate and add a teaspoon of syrup. Garnish pumpkin pieces with chopped pistachios or walnuts and a teaspoon of Greek yoghurt, crème fraîche, or clotted cream.
*Note: You can also add whole cloves, cardamom, pieces of ginger and nutmeg to the juice along with the cinnamon sticks before cooking. Traditionally, candied pumpkin is served with a spoon of kaymak, a cooked, thicken cream similar to crème fraîche or clotted cream. But I prefer a dollop of unsweetened Greek yoghurt instead; the tartness of the yoghurt refreshes and complements the sweetness of the candied pumpkin.
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Trio #3 – Pumpkin Walnut Turkish Delight
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
10 cloves
5 cardamom pods
5 star anise
3 cinnamon sticks
1 cup pumpkin purée, canned or homemade
½ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
5 tablespoons reserved spiced syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
¼ cup cold water
juice 1 small lemon
½ teaspoon lemon extract
1 ½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
In small saucepan, combine sugar, water, cloves, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon sticks. Heat over low heat until mixture starts to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool. (Syrup will be spicier if stored in a closed glass jar for several days.) When ready to proceed with recipe, spoon 5 tablespoons of syrup into small dish and store the remainder for later use.
Line an 8-inch square pan with oiled parchment paper or plastic wrap to facilitate removal of candy.
Add pumpkin purée to bowl of a food processor and process with reserved syrup until smooth. Return pumpkin mixture back to saucepan, add 2 cups sugar and cook over low heat, stirring just until sugar is melted. Remove from stove.
In a small bowl, combine gelatin and cold water; add to pumpkin/sugar mixture, stirring constantly until dissolved. Add lemon juice, lemon extract, ginger and walnuts; stir until well blended.
Pour into prepared pan; cool at least 2 hours but preferably overnight at room temperature. (Do not refrigerate. This candy will set at room temperature.)
Combine powdered sugar and cornstarch. Place small cutting board over the pan of candy. Invert and remove plastic wrap. With an oiled knife, cut into 1-inch squares and roll in powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture several times to get thick coating. Store covered in cool, dry place until ready to serve.
Makes 64 one-inch candy squares.
Photo credits: Slava Johnson