Pumpkin can be used in many ways: it is dried, hollowed out and used as a vessel, it is used to decorate a home, it is indispensable on Halloween, and the methods of culinary processing of pumpkin are simply innumerable.
Try making sugary dishes, candied fruit, and pumpkin pie with pumpkin. For candied fruits, wash a pumpkin weighing about 1 kg, peel, select seeds and pulp, cut into small (1.5-2 cm) cubes. Pour 700 ml of water into a saucepan, put on fire, gradually add 1, 2 kg of sugar. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil, reduce heat, boil for 1-2 minutes, remove and strain while syrup is hot. Place the pumpkin pieces in hot syrup, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Wash the orange, squeeze the juice, pour the juice into the syrup, add cloves (2 heads) and cinnamon (2 sticks), boil-cool 7-8 more times so that the pumpkin pieces become translucent. Drain the syrup, discard the candied fruit in a colander, let the remaining syrup drain, spread the pumpkin pieces on waxed pastry paper to dry at room temperature, or place in a ventilated oven preheated to 50 ° C. Store dried candied fruits in a glass jar with a tightly closed lid.
Make a citrus pumpkin pie. Sift 150 g of flour through a sieve in a heap into a bowl, cut into small pieces 100 g of chilled butter, add salt, 50 g of sugar, knead the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Roll out the dough into a 1 to 2 cm thick layer, place in a greased baking dish or on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Use a fork to prick the dough over the entire area. Heat oven to 180oC and bake for 8-10 minutes until dough turns light brown.
Wash the pumpkin, boil in salted water until softened, remove the crust, cut into slices. You will need 250 g of pumpkin pulp. Wash 6 eggs, separate the yolks from the whites, wash the lemon and orange, squeeze the juice out of them, remove the zest and chop. Mash the yolks with 50 g of sugar, add salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon and chopped zest. Scald 250 g of almonds with boiling water, remove the skin and chop the kernels finely. Chop 100 g of candied orange fruits thoroughly. Sift 50 grams of flour, combine with almonds and chopped candied fruits. Beat 6 whites into a strong foam, gradually adding 120 g of sugar, put the whipped whites on the yolk mass, place the pumpkin slices on top, add the almond and flour mixture, gently mix all the ingredients.
Grease the mold with butter, put the pumpkin mass there, bake at 200 ° C for 25-30 minutes, until the dough turns light brown. Remove the pie pan from the oven, cool for 10 minutes without removing the dough from the pan.
Brush the shortbread with orange marmalade and place the pumpkin crust on top of it. To soak, squeeze the juice of 1 orange and 1/2 lemon, mix in a saucepan, add 40 g of sugar, bring to a boil, cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool slightly. Pour in 20 g of orange liqueur, stir and brush over the cake, spreading the soak evenly over the entire surface. Scald 80 grams of almonds with boiling water, remove the skin, grate the kernels on a coarse grater to make shavings. Sprinkle the cake with almonds and powdered sugar, leave to soak for 10-12 hours.
