Candied Pumpkin with Crushed Walnuts

kabak tatlisi

with a twist…

It’s pumpkin season! Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes…autumn comes and we can’t seem to get enough of this humble gourd and its associated flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

This chewy, sweet, candied pumpkin from Turkey is a perfect addition to your list of pumpkin favorites. It makes for a satisfying snack or a light dessert.

Use sugar pumpkins, Cinderella pumpkins, kabocha squash, or butternut squash to make this treat.

Prepare the pumpkin by cutting it open, scraping out all the seeds, cutting it into chunks, and removing the shell. You can also buy it pre-cut to save time and effort. Try to keep the pieces of uniform size so that they cook evenly.

The spices are optional. Use them all, or leave out the ones you don’t love (or don’t have), or leave them out entirely to let the pure taste of the pumpkin shine through.

Finish the dish by garnishing each portion with a drizzle of tahini sauce, a spoonful of clotted cream, or a dollop of freshly whipped , lightly sweetened, vanilla infused cream * on top. Or, serve it alongside a scoop of cardamom ice cream** or good vanilla ice cream*** for a somewhat decadent and elegant dessert.

* To make the whipped cream, combine 1 cup of heavy whipping cream with a teaspoon of vanilla paste or 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract, and 1—2 tablespoons white sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat on high until soft peaks just begin to form.

** A very simple way to make cardamom ice cream: Allow a container of vanilla ice cream (see below) to be melted enough to stir in the spice, but not completely liquified. This is best done in the fridge. Check it often to catch it at the right thickness. Then, sprinkle on some cardamom and stir it in so that the spice is evenly dispersed. Re-freeze the ice cream until it’s hard.

*** I’m very picky about vanilla ice cream. I find most commercial vanilla ice cream doesn’t taste of vanilla at all. In my opinion, Hagen-Dazs vanilla (not their vanilla bean!) is the absolute best commercially available if I’m not making my own.

Ingredients:

• About 1 ½ — 2 lbs fresh prepared pumpkin chunks, about 2” long

• 1 ½ cups superfine sugar (or use granulated sugar and give it a woosh in the food processor)

• ½  cup coarsely chopped walnuts (you could also use pistachios)

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

  Optional spices:

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly grated

• a dash of allspice

• a pinch of cloves

• a dash of cardamom

  Optional toppings:

• tahini sauce

• clotted cream soft

• lightly sweetened whipped cream

Method:

• In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the spices.

• Line a baking dish with parchment and lay out the pumpkin pieces in a single layer.

• Sprinkle them evenly with the spiced sugar.

• Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight.

The next day—

• Preheat oven to 350°.

• Take the dish with the pumpkin out of the fridge. You’ll see that the sugar has dissolved into a syrup-y juice.

• Cover the pan with foil. Tear a piece that’s big enough to tent the foil so that it doesn’t touch the pumpkin, but can be tightened around the edge of the baking dish to keep the juices from evaporating. Slide the dish into the oven.

• Bake for about an hour to 1 hour and possibly as long as 2 hours. While it’s baking, carefully uncover it every 20 minutes to check for doneness and to spoon the juices that have accumulated in the bottom of the dish back over the pumpkin, then re-cover the dish and return it to the oven.

• After 40 minutes, taste the pumpkin. If you’d like it to be sweeter, sprinkle on a little more sugar.

• Continue baking until enough of the syrup has been absorbed to leave the pumpkin pieces candied and glistening, while still having syrup around them.

• The kabak tatlisi is done when the pieces are fork tender, but not falling apart.

• In a skillet, melt the butter and add the chopped walnuts. Cook for a minute or two over medium heat to toast the nuts, then remove them from the pan and set them aside.

  Serve the dessert—divide the pumpkin pieces among dessert bowls and then pour the remaining syrup over them evenly. Sprinkle with the toasted nuts and drizzle them with tahini sauce, clotted cream, or softly whipped cream.

  Kabak tatlisi is best served chilled or at room temperature.

Did you make it? Was it fabulous?