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Prep time
15 minutes
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Cook time
30 minutes
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Serves
6
Author Notes
I have a big, raging love for wobbly, jiggly desserts. Think quivering jelly towers, pillowy soft castella cakes, and just-cooked custards that can barely hold themselves together. So since it's pumpkin season, I made a pumpkin-spiked pudding! You might call it a creme caramel or a Japanese purin — and you wouldn’t be wrong; this can pass off as either puddings — but to me it’s just the perfect wobbly dessert to herald the nervous change in season as summer turns to winter!
I started off by making a pumpkin puree from scratch — roasting the pumpkin halves then passing it through a sieve to make it silky smooth. But if you prefer, store-bought pumpkin puree would work perfectly fine too. Whichever path you take, you then burn up some sugar to make a caramel, then pour it into ramekins or metal molds to set on the bottom. For the custard, the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, and hot milk and cream get whisked together before they all go in the ramekin on top of the now-hardened caramel.
Then comes the key to get that soft jiggly texture on the pudding — a water bath bake! So put your ramekins in a deep tray, surround them with boiling hot water until two-thirds up the sides of the ramekins, and carefully put the puddings, tray and all, into a low temperature oven to bake.
A half hour later, you can flip these out to get perfectly jiggly, nervously quivering plops of pumpkin pudding to herald the nervous change in season as summer turns to winter! —Jun
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Ingredients
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½ cups
(100g) granulated sugar
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2 tablespoons
(30ml) water
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1¼ cups
(300ml) milk
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½ cups
(120ml) cream
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½ cups
(100g) pumpkin puree
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3
eggs
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¼ cups
(50g) granulated sugar
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¼ teaspoons
(1g) salt
Directions
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If making pumpkin puree from scratch with a pumpkin, start by cutting the pumpkin in half horizontally, then deseeding it with a spoon. Roast the two pumpkin halves in the oven at 350°F (177°C) for 90 minutes, until completely soft. Take the pumpkin out of the oven, then scoop out the pumpkin flesh with a spoon. Stir until the pumpkin flesh is a smooth puree and there are no lumps. (Optionally you can pass it through a mesh sieve to make it extra smooth.) This will make a lot more pumpkin puree than you’ll need for this recipe, so you can keep the extra puree for other applications.
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To make the caramel, pour the sugar and water into a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar turns into a golden brown caramel. Swirl the pan occasionally to help melt the sugar and ensure even cooking.
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When done, pour the caramel equally into six 3- to 4-inch ramekins or metal molds. Set this aside for at least 5 minutes to let the caramel harden.
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Heat an oven to 260°F (127°C). Bring 1 quart (1 L) of water to a boil.
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For the custard, heat up milk and cream until just steaming. In a medium heat-proof mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, and salt. Then, stream in the hot milk and cream into the bowl while whisking continuously. Pass this through a fine mesh sieve, and then pour the custard into the ramekins with caramel in them. You should fill the ramekins until they’re 80-90% full, almost to the brim. You should have enough custard to fill 6 ramekins this way.
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Place the ramekins in a deep-rimmed tray or baking tin, and fill the tray with the boiling water until two-thirds up the sides of the ramekins. Then carefully put the whole tray in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes, until the custard is set but still jiggly in the middle. (You can test this by gently tapping the ramekins.)
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When done, remove the tray from the oven and the ramekins from the water bath. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
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To serve, run a sharp knife along the inner side of the ramekins to release the pudding. Place an overturned plate on top of the ramekin, and flip the plate and ramekin together and give it a firm shake to release the pudding. Remove the ramekin, and enjoy! These puddings also keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days; just heat the bottom of the ramekins in a water bath for 2-3 minutes to melt the caramel before flipping them out.)
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