Halloween Cream Puff

Scary looking pumpkins and fancy dresses... yes, Halloween is here again!

I've been doing some Halloween baking this week and this is one of them.... Halloween special black Jack-o'-lantern cream puffs1

The pastry itself is my usual choux pastry with black food colouring. However the cream inside is the special thing of these guys! It's Pumpkin Cream! I added pureed pumpkin to custard cream and combined with whipped cream.
They are seriously, dangerously tasty!

It was very difficult to see if the pastries were going brown or not, but I think I judged it well. ;) They looked a bit like giant snails... ;D

Happy Halloween, everyone! Don't open the front door to strangers...;)

Pumpkin ice craem

With my pumpkin cream I made pumpkin ice cream. It's super easy. Just add more cream (I added approximately 100ml but you can add more if you want make it more creamy) and more cinnamon (1/2tsp-1tsp) to the basic pumpkin cream (200g) and mix really well! Put it in the freezer. When it starts to set, mix air in and put it back in the freezer.

Because this ice cream doesn't have any eggs in it, it's lighter but still has the depth from the pumpkin and cinnamon. I added salted caramel roasted pumpkin seeds on top. That was... a very satisfying Friday night dessert indeed. ;D

Pumpkin tart

Another day with pumpkin;) I made a very rich and creamy pumpkin tart using my pumpkin cream (it's the same cream I used for the pumpkin cream bread).

I kept two pieces for Mr and I and shared other pieces with Andy's mum and dad and neighbours.

The bright orange smooth filling and well baked sweet pastry with a hint of cinnamon was such a comforting treat in an autumn afternoon. Yum yum yum...

Oh... Halloween is coming soon. Why not try it then?
Ingredients:

Sweet pastry 1 (See here)

Pumpkin cream 500g

Sugar 150g

Salt pinch

Cinnamon powder 1/2 tsp

Vanilla pot seed 1/4tsp

Egg 3

Flour 80g

Crème fraiche 180g

1. Prepare the sweet pastry. Line the pastry on a 9 inch tart tin. Prick the bottom of the tart case with a fork. Rest it in the freezer.

2. Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Make the filling. Beat sugar, eggs, salt, cinnamon and vanilla together.

3. Sift flour into 2 and mix.

4. Add pumpkin cream and creme fraiche into 3 and mix well.

5. Take the tart case out from the freezer and pour the filling into the case.

6. Bake in the preheated oven (180ºc) for 60 minutes.

Pumpkin cream bread

It's this time of the year again! It's the pumpkin season! I love autumn. There are so many foods in this season that I love. Pumpkin is definitely one of them.

The other day I found a really cute pumpkin in a shop. For a couple of day the pumpkin was my baby's best friend and then came back to me in the kitchen. I decided to turn Mr pumpkin to a nice smooth pumpkin cream.

This silky and creamy pumpkin paste is so versatile that you can use it in breads, cakes, any other desserts but also nice to eat as is!

Here is how to make the pumpkin cream:
Ingredients

Pumpkin (after cooked) 700g

Double cream 80g

Demerara sugar 60g

Salt 5g

Butter 50g

Cinnamon 1/2-1 tsp

1. Peel the pumpkin skin and take the seeds away. Cut in small pieces. Put them in a microwave safe bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and cook for 10 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.

2. Put the pumpkin in a blender and make a smooth paste.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until they're mixed together well.

4. Get creative! Use in bread, cake, ice cream, anything you like or eat as is.:D

I made some pumpkin cream bread. Not only did I add the pumpkin cream in the bread dough but also I put the cream inside of the roll. The dough turned bright yellow and had nice soft texture. The sweet cream oozed out when I bit into the roll.... Heavenly...

I finished baking those rolls late last night and had to have one because it smelt so nice and one taste bite was certainly not enough. I didn't care what time of the night it was... It was that tasty...

I also made "Ducks" (which became "deformed ducks"... and "Booboo pig". ;D

Ingredients:

Strong flour 250g

Plain flour 250g

Yeast 7g

Egg 1

Milk 140g

Butter 50g

Sugar 50g

Salt 5g

Pumpkin cream 200g

Extra pumpkin cream to put inside.

Egg for egg wash

Pumpkin seeds to decorate

1. Put all the ingredients in a standing mixer and knead for 10 minutes.

2. Cover the bowl with cling film and rest the dough until it's doubled in size.

3. Take out the dough on a floured surface and divide into 16 pieces and make balls. Let them rest for 10 minutes.

4. Roll out each ball and place a tablespoon of pumpkin cream in the middle. Seal the dough tightly and place the roll on a baking tray with the sealed side facing down.

5. Rest the dough again until it's doubled in size.

6. Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Egg wash the top of the rolls and put pumpkin seed on top.

7. Bake in the preheated oven (180ºc) for 20 minutes.