When people bake recipes with pumpkin, they usually use canned pumpkin sold at supermarkets. Canned pumpkin is great in a pinch, but with Halloween right around the corner, fresh pumpkins are as abundant as ever. Now’s the time to take advantage of this seasonal fruit!
I went to the local pumpkin patch and stocked up on some pumpkins to use for a pie. Then I was struck with an idea: why don’t I candy the pumpkin and bake with it?!
With a bit of sugar, a dash of cinnamon, and some orange zest, I transformed the fresh pumpkin into the most delicious, festive squash I’ve ever had — subtly sweet, super creamy, and flat out delicious.
I used the candied pumpkin to make a pumpkin pie, and the result was a pie that tasted naturally sweet, with a wonderfully smooth, custard-like filling. If you’re interested, my candied pumpkin pie recipe is in my cookbook, Beach House Baking available on amazon 🙂
If you’re making pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, I highly recommend buying a pumpkin and candying it first before making your pie.
Candying pumpkin is so easy and will make your pie filling phenomenal, I promise!
Candied Pumpkin
Ingredients
- 1 small pumpkin approximately 3 lbs
- 2¼ cups brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon ground
- 1 orange zest
Directions
- Cut stem off of pumpkin. Cut pumpkin in half. Remove seeds and string. Cut each halve into 4 to 5 wedges. Halve each wedge to get approximately 2-inch long pieces.
- In a medium saucepan, bring 4 cups water, brown sugar, cinnamon and orange zest to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and add the pumpkin pieces. Simmer for 45 to 60 minutes or until pumpkin is fork tender. Remove from heat and let pumpkin cool in the syrup at room temperature.