Recipes | Quick Caramelized Pumpkin Butter and a No-Bake Eggless Pumpkin Pudding – When The Equation of Life Changes..
There comes a time when priorities win over passion and you stand confused and run-down staring at the golden opportunities pass by.
When the equation of life changes…
A senior person from a popular holiday resort in India approached me to get involved in a photo shoot project some days back. A few phone calls and mails from them made it clear that it is going to be a large scale project. The project required more than a weeks involvement and a few out door shoots as well. I asked for some time to think over it, and from then started days of ‘should I’ or ‘ shouldn’t I’ ordeal.
Though there were no constraints from anyone at home, I could not imagine leaving children on their own for such a long time. “You are standing at that stage of life where you have all the luxury of choosing or denying any work. And always remember that you started blogging just to keep your passion alive and not to earn your daily bread from it. So accept the work which comes along with your blogging stint only if you feel you can do justice to it without any guilt feel”, were the soothing words of wisdom from my hubby who understood my perplexed state of mind.
And I let it go…yes, I passed on the project to a friend of mine. With a hope that the day will come soon when I will start taking up such mega projects soon once my children are on their own.
These are times when you need to be firm and find out ways to keep a balance between your priorities and passion without hurting one another. Life goes on…
Well, I made this easy and scrumptious dessert, a No-Bake Eggless Pumpkin Pudding to bring back my cheerful mood again.
Normally it takes long hours to bake Pumpkin pieces and make puree, unless you are using canned pumpkin puree which is not easily available in India. I find this way of caramelizing easy, quick and quite effective as far as the taste of the final recipe goes.
1. Quick Caramelized Pumpkin Butter Recipe
Caramelized pumpkin cubes..
This caramelized Pumpkin butter could be used as a healthy spread in sandwiches or to make cakes, breads, fudge and many other bakes.
Ingredients;
(1 small jar)
- 2 cups pumpkin cubes
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (optional)
- 1 tbsp. clarified butter/ghee
Spices;
- 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg power
- 1/4 tsp. dry ginger powder
Yummy Pumpkin butter…
Method; Heat clarified butter/ghee in a heavy bottom pan and add cubed pumpkin pieces in it. Saute the cubes on medium heat for 10 minutes till they turn brown or look caramelized. This step is essential to get a distinct taste of caramelized pumpkin in the pudding.
Puree the caramelized pumpkin cubes in a blender.
Combine the pumpkin puree with rest of the ingredients and bring it to simmer in the same pan. Let it simmer for 20-25 minutes until the sauce becomes thick. Take care to keep stirring the thick sauce all the time, to avoid getting the pumpkin puree burnt.
You could use 2 tbsp of lemon juice to replace the apple cider vinegar in the recipe.
A spoonful of yum!
Remove the thickened pumpkin butter from heat. Take small glass bottles and wipe it completely. Fill them with the hot Pumpkin butter and let it cool before closing the lid. Store the pumpkin butter in refrigerator till use. It stays good for upto 2-3 months.
Serve the refreshing Pumpkin butter as a healthy spread on bread slices or in baking pumpkin pies, cakes, cookies, pudding.
2. No-Bake Eggless Pumpkin Pudding
Ingredients;
- 1 cup roasted pumpkin puree/butter (recipe above)
- 1 cup soy milk/coconut milk/plain milk
- 1/4 cup white sugar/brown sugar (optional)*
- 2 tbsp. cornflour/cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
- 2 tbsp cream (optional)
Nutmeg and the pumpkin pudding…
Method; Dissolve cornflour (very fine variety which resembles soft talcum powder) or cornstarch in 2 tbsp of cold milk. Pour rest of the milk in a thick bottom pan, bring it to boil and add the corn flour paste in it. Simmer for 5-6 minutes stirring continuously to avoid the thickened milk sticking to the bottom. Take it off from the flame and let it cool.
Add roasted pumpkin puree and all other ingredients, whisk together to make smooth and creamy thick sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes on low flame and take off the heat.
Its creamy and scrumptious in every bite…
Transfer to individual serving bowls and refrigerate for 2-3 hours till the pumpkin pudding become firm. Serve the scrumptious Caramelized Pumpkin Pudding with crushed nuts, fresh cream or caramel sauce.
Notes;
- Omit cream and use milk instead to make the pudding a healthy alternative.
- Use white sugar if you can’t get light brown sugar.
- I used Amul cream in sachet.
- You can replace arrowroot powder with corn flour.
- As the recipe has no eggs or gelatin in it, the consistency of the pudding is creamy and soft.
- *Omit the sugar in the pudding recipe if you like less sweet, the sugar present in pumpkin butter will make the pudding sweet.
Sounds very nice! As mother’s we have to make so many sacrifices. I’m sure yours will pay rich dividends in the future.
@Anushruti, Thanks for the wishes!
Life is like that….you need to make choices at every point of life…..but all for good reason…..keep that in mind…..recipe sounds extremely delectable…..love the pictures…..
I can so relate to this post Sanjeeta! This has been happening to me a lot these days. I have my priorities very clear and since I want to homeschool my daughter I am not thinking of anything very time consuming for a long long time. While I would LOVE to take a big interesting projects I am aware that I will never feel right about choosing it over my family. I have a lot of respect for women who can balance it all but That’s just not me 🙂
Success, money, name and fame will always follow good work and there are very few talented people like you who can create such fantastic original recipes! I am sure you will receive tons of projects in future. All the best!
@Chinmaye, So humbled by your comment Chin..you are always a sweet heart and will remain so for years to come! And I do reciprocate the same feelings for you and your wonderful work on your blog as well.
I have a pumpkin on my countertop, well, this is the perfect receipe for making use of it.
I can relate to it since I had to make a lot of changes since i am homeschooling my son.
Very nice to have known your blog.
thanks,
lakshmi
Wise man, your husband 🙂 I’ve turned down some opportunities too, just because they weren’t the right choices for this time in my life, and I have to say, I have no regrets :-). Both these recipes look divine-pinning now!
I can totally relate to your situation. Though childless, I have my priorities to the family too. Some projects are fine, others can be time consuming and that involves a lot of sacrifice which I am yet to be ready for.
Yummy pumpkin pudding!!!
You have a very smart husband! The fact that you two communicate and support each other like that says a lot about your relationship. I know it’s a missed opportunity “for now”, but with your talent, the right opportunities will come around – ones that you can have your cake and eat it too. 🙂 Now for your recipes – they both look absolutely delicious! Your pudding looks so creamy and just perfect!I LOVE pudding! I’m marking this post to give at least the pudding a try if not the butter. Another beautiful post my friend!
I completely agree with you.Family comes first and since you are so talented, opportunities will come again. Where you can concentrate on your work, totally! Good luck!
The pudding looks lovely!
With your talent, there will be no dearth of opportunities in future, when you are ready to take it on. You seem like such a grounded, mature person. Respect.
I tried the ragi cookies recipe from your blog, added some oatmeal too and they turned out great.
wooowww…its really a delicious recipe…i dunno abt the equation of life,but my equation of diet has certainly changed after seeing such mouth watering pics….keep it up!!
Very wise advice from your husband, good for you for listening to your heart and making the right choice for you.
Good for you for putting yourself first. I’d have been the same way and wouldn’t have enjoyed it because I would be worried about what was going on back home.
I love this caramelized pumpkin butter. I am dying to make a sandwich using it.
Both the pumpkin butter and the pumpkin pudding tempt me– I’m bookmarking the pumpkin butter recipe to Pinterest now. Family vs. work balance is always a hard one. Even now, with just two teens in the house (one mine, one exchange student) it still feels like there is not always as much time for my own projects as I would like. Or I do the project and feel like the kids could use more of my attention. It’s an ongoing struggle when you have kids. But I hope that you are able to do enough of your own projects to be happy.
Wow, I understand you decision, but I am still… wow
I respect your decision, its brave!
Most probably I would have done the same if I was in your situation, with children. =)
Your caramelized pumpkin puree looks nice, love your shots, very inspiring.
Sanjeeta, Isn’t it heartbreaking you darned if you do….:) You are such a good mom. Sometimes you need to do something for yourself to function better at home! 🙂 The pumpkin butter and pumpkin pudding both look sensational!
Visited your blog after quite some time and felt so good :). I could not do any post in last one month due to the festival, my 2 year old daughter and part time job. Reason was simple, I did not want to compromise on the time I should give to my daughter! Your words and thoughts reflected my state of mind. I always love to visit this space of yours.
I need to make fruit or squash butters, but I seem to always put it off. Your pumpkin butter sounds delicious, and the pudding looks wonderful! Hugs, Terra
I pay a visit every day a few blogs and websites to read content, but this webpage gives feature based content.
Hey,, Lovely recipe.. Wondering if apples can be a substituted for pumpkin. Will it work?
@Jaisheila, Yes, Apples will work pretty well with this recipe.
Hey, Is brown sugar jaggery or palm sugar?
@Jaisheila, Palm sugar is made with sap of date palm or Palmyra palm and is different from brown sugar which is caramelized sugar.
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