Dessert

Pumpkin spiced puddings

Unique, eye-catching and oh-so sweet, these little ice-cream-topped heirloom pumpkin puddings from make an unforgettable dessert. You will need to start this recipe a day ahead.
pumpkin spiced ice cream puddings
8
25M
1H 15M
8H
1H 40M

Ingredients

Pumpkin ice-cream
Maple caramel sauce

Method

1.Make pumpkin ice-cream; microwave pumpkin in a microwave-safe dish on HIGH (100%) for 4 minutes or until soft; drain. Mash pumpkin until smooth; you will need 1 cup mashed pumpkin. Cool. Beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add condensed milk and vanilla; beat until firm peaks form. Fold in cooked pumpkin. Pour mixture into a loaf pan. Cover; freeze for 4 hours or overnight until firm.
2.Clean heirloom pumpkins on the outside. With a knife, cut open the top of the pumpkins in one piece to give each a 7cm (2¾in) wide opening. Scrape out the seeds; reserve tops.
3.Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Combine caster sugar and salt in a small bowl; sprinkle sugar mixture inside pumpkins to coat all over. Place pumpkins upside-down in a colander in the sink; stand for 15 minutes. Rinse inside of pumpkins; pat dry with paper towel until as dry as possible.
4.Beat butter and brown sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Stir in sifted flour and mixed spice, then ground pecans until combined.
5.Place pumpkins on lined tray; spoon mixture into pumpkin shells until about two-thirds full.
6.Bake pumpkins for 45 minutes (cover loosely with foil if they start to over-brown). Add reserved pumpkin tops to tray; bake pumpkins and tops for a further 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean. Leave pumpkins on tray for 30 minutes.
7.Meanwhile, make maple caramel sauce; place ingredients in a medium heavy-based saucepan over low heat; stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce thickens.
8.Serve pumpkin puddings with ice-cream, drizzled with warm sauce.

For the ground pecans, process 1 cup (120g) pecans until as finely ground as almond meal. Pumpkin ice-cream and maple caramel sauce can be made up to 4 days ahead; keep sauce covered in the fridge. Pumpkin spiced puddings are best made on day of serving.

Note

Related stories