Author Notes
Like brave soldiers, guarding the night, brothers-in-arms bound to one anothers’ lives, the Prince steps forward, sacrificing himself and revealing to you, beyond the dark-as-night chocolate armour, a mind as bright as fire, a crown of sugar diamonds, with a heart and a soul the depth of caramel … " As I mentioned yesterday, in « my halloween mistakes … or not ! » article (see article here) this was an accidental dessert idea. I wanted to make caramels, I couldn’t find the candy thermometer, one thing lead to another … anger, despair, resolve, decisions, changes, and a new end result ! Not an easy dessert to make because of the multiple steps, but easier if you perform the steps one at a time, First the pumkin purée, then the chocolate cups (which I found in my supermarket but I’ve also shown and explained to you how to make your own), then the caramel spread, then first part of the assembling, then the pumpkin jelly and a final garnish of rock sugar … Don’t worry, 2 easier desserts are coming out of this accident very soon ! :) —Georgios Tsaklidis (g-tsak from icookstuff)
Ingredients
- pumkin purée & chocolate cups
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600 grams
fresh pumpkin slices (seeds and filaments removed and scraped)
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300-400 grams
melted dark chocolate (60-70%)
- pumpkin caramel spread & pumpkin jelly
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125 grams
pumpkin purée (1/2 cup)
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125 grams
agave nectar or corn syrup (1/2 cup)
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8 grams
gelatin sheets (8 sheets)
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62,5 grams
pumpkin purée (1/4 cup)
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57,5
salted butter (1/4 cup)
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145 grams
granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
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200
sweetened condensed milk (2/3 cup)
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125 grams
agave nectar (1/2 cup)
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1/2 teaspoon
vanilla extract
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1 1/2 teaspoons
pumpkin spice (my mix : ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp allspice, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground clove)
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4 tablespoons
rock sugar
Directions
- pumkin purée & chocolate cups
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preheat oven to 175°C
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cut up pumkin (with skin) into smaller chunks
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place onto a baking sheet with baking paper and bake for 60-90 minutes until very tender
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remove from oven and let cool and then remove pulp from skin by mashing with a spoon and scraping skin
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squeeze out some excess liquid using a cheesecloth or mesh strainer and set aside ¼ cup and ½ cup each of pumpkin purée
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break up and melt half the chocolate (150-200 grams) in a bain-marie and brush the insides of mini-cupcake liners with 1 coat of melted chocolate
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note : if using the thin paper cupcake liners, do not separate them, leave at least 5 together at a time to solidify the cupcake shape
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place chocolate-coated cupcake liners in the refrigerator to harden for 10 minutes and then remove and reapply another coat of warmed melted chocolate
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repeat again with the other 150-200 grams of melted chocolate and refrigerate again and reapply another coat (you can repeat and continue until desired thickness is achieved, I used 4 coats)
- pumpkin caramel spread & pumpkin jelly
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melt butter over medium heat and add spices and granulated sugar until well combined and dissolved
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add the agave nectar and stir, then the sweetened condensed milk and stir and finally the pumkin purée
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cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes and keep stirring until a few bubbles form on the surface and the mixture thickens (to the consistency of thick peanut butter)
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remove from heat and transfer to a bowl, set aside and let cool
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fill 2/3 of the mini-chocolate cups with the soft pumpkin caramel spread and refrigerate
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in a small casserole at medium-high heat, combine ½ cup pumkin purée with ½ cup agave nectar and stir until it starts to boil and remove from heat
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soften the 5 sheets of gelatin in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes, then remove and squeeze excess water and add to the warm (not hot) pumpkin purée-agave nectar mix and stir until fully dissolved and let cool completely
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remove chocolate cups from the refrigerator and spoon in the pumpkin jelly in the remaining 1/3 space left and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours until solidified
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sprinkle with rock sugar when the pumkin jelly is drier and tacky to the touch and refrigerate
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*note : if you’ve made your own chocolate cups, peel off the paper or foil mini-cupcake liners only at the end when everything is assembled and chilled
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