Pumpkin Butter
The final harvest has come and gone, and brought us to the austere beauty of mid-November. Leafy trees in Astoria Park have shed their last, blanketing the earth with somber tones of brown and amber, even as evergreens plump themselves in preparation for December’s greening. The air is chill and grey, punctuated by the caws of crows alighting on wires. Neighborhood squirrels are a whirl of activity as they scramble to warehouse the last of the fallen acorns. And, nestled in doorways or sitting sentinel on stoops, the last of the autumn pumpkins smile wearily, waiting to welcome Thanksgiving visitors as their final act in the role of autumn’s host, before changing posts with red ribbons and balsam sprays.
Squash have been put to good use in the autumn kitchen. We sautéed summer’s bounty before the winter squashes came in. Butternut flavors risotto and ravioli, while acorn are baked in maple syrup or shirred in cream. But pumpkins are the royalty of the autumn table, perhaps because they have a special affinity for the dessert course - and everybody, no matter what they say, has a sweet tooth. Pumpkin bread, muffins and cookies go down good with pumpkin coffee. Pumpkin pie is de rigueur for Thanksgiving, while pumpkin cheesecakes and tortes will take us to Advent. I am advised by readers that this year, adventurous bakers are making pumpkin rolls.
A time-honored way to preserve autumn’s signature flavor is to make pumpkin butter. Fruit butter is a mixture of fruit, sugar and spices cooked down into a spread that is thicker and more substantial than jam. Apple butter is the county fair standard, but there are also butters made from stone fruits like plum and apricots. Then there is pumpkin butter. Pumpkin lends itself to becoming butter because its dense flesh cooks down into rich, spicy velvet. Purists make butter from whole pumpkins, so for years, I labored with slithery pumpkin insides, scraping the flesh from baked wedges. Then on TV I saw one of my favorite chefs use canned pumpkin. I figured if it was okay for him to use canned pumpkin (in the presence of no less than Martha Stewart), then I would try it. It turns out that roasting the pumpkin puree brings out that quality of pumpkin that is mellow and decadent at the same time, and fills the kitchen with an intoxicating aroma.
As my former Slashfood colleague and fellow writer Marisa McClellan points out at Food in Jars, pumpkin butter is not safe for long-term canning. However, small jars freshly packed will keep, refrigerated, through the winter holidays, where they will enliven weekend waffles and weekday toast alike. Though the fellowship and the meal are the centerpiece of Thanksgiving, in the spirit of the cornucopia I like to send guests home with more than memories and leftovers. As I did last year with cranberry sauce and apple cider gelée, this year I will place jars of pumpkin butter by the door with a note inviting guests to take one, and explaining that the butter is not sealed to last. In fact, in that spirit of the cornucopia, I may even inflict mincemeat on anyone brave enough to take one.
PUMPKIN BUTTER
This recipe uses canned pumpkin puree -- be sure you get that and not canned pumpkin pie filling. If you prefer to use fresh pumpkins, place scooped-and-seeded pumpkin halves face down on buttered baking sheets and roast as directed below. Scoop out the same amount of roasted pumpkin flesh and proceed with the recipe.
6 cups pumpkin puree
Butter
2 cups white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1-1/2 cups apple cider
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1-1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 vanilla bean
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line one large or two small rimmed baking sheet/s with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper. Use a silicon spatula to spread the pumpkin puree on the buttered paper in a layer about one inch thick.
3. Place the baking sheet/s in the oven and roast the pumpkin puree, undisturbed, for 30 minutes.
4. After placing the pumpkin in the oven to roast, place a large nonreactive pan on the stovetop.
5. Pour the cider into a large nonreactive pan. Add the sugar; use a whisk to break up the lumps.
6. Add the spices to the sugar-cider mixture.
7. Lay the vanilla bean lengthways on a cutting board and use a paring knife to slice the vanilla bean lengthways into two long strips.
8. Working carefully to protect the vanilla bean seeds, hold one of the vanilla bean halves over the pan. Carefully scrape the knife down the inside of the bean so that the tiny seeds fall into the mixture in the pan. They will also stick to the knife; swirl the knife in the cider-sugar mixture to release those seeds into the mixture. Place the scraped vanilla bean half as well as the unscraped half into a glass jar for future use.
9. Cover the pan and leave the ingredients to infuse while the pumpkin finishes roasting.
10. After 30 minutes check the pumpkin; it should be thick and very fragrant with some cracked patches. It is okay if it has shrunk a bit in mass.
11. Remove pumpkin from oven. Cover loosely with parchment and set aside to cool, approximately five minutes.
12. Once pumpkin is cool enough to handle, use the spatula to measure out five cups puree. Reserve remaining puree if any for another use.
13. Use a large whisk to incorporate the pumpkin into the cider-sugar mixture until the mixture is smooth and thick.
14. Turn heat to medium-high. Cook, whisking constantly, until bubbles begin to form at edges of mixture.
15. Turn heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, whisking occasionally, until mixture is dark, thick and fragrant, and forms a mound when a teaspoon is raked across the top of the mixture.
16. Use the silicon spatula to pack the pumpkin butter into clean jars. Once the jar is filled, use a clean, damp sponge to wipe the rim of each jar. Center a clean lid on each jar. Screw a band down on each jar until it meets resistance; increase just until tight.
17. Once jars are cool enough to handle, label each jar with the contents and the date prepared. Refrigerate the pumpkin butter. Safely prepared and refrigerated, the pumpkin butter should keep for two months from date of preparation.
Squash have been put to good use in the autumn kitchen. We sautéed summer’s bounty before the winter squashes came in. Butternut flavors risotto and ravioli, while acorn are baked in maple syrup or shirred in cream. But pumpkins are the royalty of the autumn table, perhaps because they have a special affinity for the dessert course - and everybody, no matter what they say, has a sweet tooth. Pumpkin bread, muffins and cookies go down good with pumpkin coffee. Pumpkin pie is de rigueur for Thanksgiving, while pumpkin cheesecakes and tortes will take us to Advent. I am advised by readers that this year, adventurous bakers are making pumpkin rolls.
A time-honored way to preserve autumn’s signature flavor is to make pumpkin butter. Fruit butter is a mixture of fruit, sugar and spices cooked down into a spread that is thicker and more substantial than jam. Apple butter is the county fair standard, but there are also butters made from stone fruits like plum and apricots. Then there is pumpkin butter. Pumpkin lends itself to becoming butter because its dense flesh cooks down into rich, spicy velvet. Purists make butter from whole pumpkins, so for years, I labored with slithery pumpkin insides, scraping the flesh from baked wedges. Then on TV I saw one of my favorite chefs use canned pumpkin. I figured if it was okay for him to use canned pumpkin (in the presence of no less than Martha Stewart), then I would try it. It turns out that roasting the pumpkin puree brings out that quality of pumpkin that is mellow and decadent at the same time, and fills the kitchen with an intoxicating aroma.
As my former Slashfood colleague and fellow writer Marisa McClellan points out at Food in Jars, pumpkin butter is not safe for long-term canning. However, small jars freshly packed will keep, refrigerated, through the winter holidays, where they will enliven weekend waffles and weekday toast alike. Though the fellowship and the meal are the centerpiece of Thanksgiving, in the spirit of the cornucopia I like to send guests home with more than memories and leftovers. As I did last year with cranberry sauce and apple cider gelée, this year I will place jars of pumpkin butter by the door with a note inviting guests to take one, and explaining that the butter is not sealed to last. In fact, in that spirit of the cornucopia, I may even inflict mincemeat on anyone brave enough to take one.
PUMPKIN BUTTER
This recipe uses canned pumpkin puree -- be sure you get that and not canned pumpkin pie filling. If you prefer to use fresh pumpkins, place scooped-and-seeded pumpkin halves face down on buttered baking sheets and roast as directed below. Scoop out the same amount of roasted pumpkin flesh and proceed with the recipe.
6 cups pumpkin puree
Butter
2 cups white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1-1/2 cups apple cider
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1-1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 vanilla bean
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line one large or two small rimmed baking sheet/s with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper. Use a silicon spatula to spread the pumpkin puree on the buttered paper in a layer about one inch thick.
3. Place the baking sheet/s in the oven and roast the pumpkin puree, undisturbed, for 30 minutes.
4. After placing the pumpkin in the oven to roast, place a large nonreactive pan on the stovetop.
5. Pour the cider into a large nonreactive pan. Add the sugar; use a whisk to break up the lumps.
6. Add the spices to the sugar-cider mixture.
7. Lay the vanilla bean lengthways on a cutting board and use a paring knife to slice the vanilla bean lengthways into two long strips.
8. Working carefully to protect the vanilla bean seeds, hold one of the vanilla bean halves over the pan. Carefully scrape the knife down the inside of the bean so that the tiny seeds fall into the mixture in the pan. They will also stick to the knife; swirl the knife in the cider-sugar mixture to release those seeds into the mixture. Place the scraped vanilla bean half as well as the unscraped half into a glass jar for future use.
9. Cover the pan and leave the ingredients to infuse while the pumpkin finishes roasting.
10. After 30 minutes check the pumpkin; it should be thick and very fragrant with some cracked patches. It is okay if it has shrunk a bit in mass.
11. Remove pumpkin from oven. Cover loosely with parchment and set aside to cool, approximately five minutes.
12. Once pumpkin is cool enough to handle, use the spatula to measure out five cups puree. Reserve remaining puree if any for another use.
13. Use a large whisk to incorporate the pumpkin into the cider-sugar mixture until the mixture is smooth and thick.
14. Turn heat to medium-high. Cook, whisking constantly, until bubbles begin to form at edges of mixture.
15. Turn heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, whisking occasionally, until mixture is dark, thick and fragrant, and forms a mound when a teaspoon is raked across the top of the mixture.
16. Use the silicon spatula to pack the pumpkin butter into clean jars. Once the jar is filled, use a clean, damp sponge to wipe the rim of each jar. Center a clean lid on each jar. Screw a band down on each jar until it meets resistance; increase just until tight.
17. Once jars are cool enough to handle, label each jar with the contents and the date prepared. Refrigerate the pumpkin butter. Safely prepared and refrigerated, the pumpkin butter should keep for two months from date of preparation.
I think I know what to do with that big can of pumpkin!
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