RECIPE: PUMPKIN CUSTARD

Yesterday I was working in my home office, freezing and wanting something sweet. Since we're on a Paleo-lite diet (we ignore the "no dairy" and "no alcohol" rules) I don't eat a lot of sweets and that's particularly hard on me sometimes because I love a good pastry (my preferred item: apple fritter) like I love rain and wind. That is to say, I love it a lot. Realizing that I still had the pumpkin I bought at Trader Joe as decoration for $1.99. I fired up the oven and got to work on a pumpkin custard. I'd made a recipe before and it wasn't necessarily to my liking. I felt like something was lacking so this time I did away with a recipe and just followed my instincts. What came out of the oven was, in my opinion, the best damn pumpkin custard I'd ever made. It put all previous pumpkin pie fillings I'd ever made to shame. Yeah, I loved it that much.

Now, to be fair, this isn't really a recipe that hard core, no carb Paleo eaters can use. But it's a great, all natural treat for those who are a little more flexible with their diets. It's sweet without being cloying. It's light & fluffy. And it reminds me exactly of eating a cold slice of pumpkin pie the day after Thanksgiving, which is kind of awesome seeing as how we entirely skipped any Thanksgiving food this year. (We're cooking our feast tomorrow instead.)

I haven't taken any pictures because it's not a pretty recipe. I'm sure there are ways to make it nice & picture worthy but I was too worried about diving in.

Start with one small pumpkin (I think they call them pie pumpkins)
Cut in half & de-gut (save the seeds for roasting later)
Roast pumpkin at 350 for 1 hour
Remove pumpkin from skin & puree until smooth
Add 1 cup of organic maple syrup to pumpkin puree (the real stuff, not that Log Cabin crap)
Add 1/2 cup of Sugar in the Raw
Mix until smooth
In a separate bowl beat 4 eggs
Add 1 cup of heavy cream
Add 1 tbsp of good vanilla
Add wet mixture to pumpkin puree
To this add 2 tbsp of cinnamon
Add 1 tbsp of cardamom
Add 1 tbsp of nutmeg
Add 1 tbsp of ground cloves
Pour into a small casserole dish and bake at 350 for 1.25 hours
Remove from oven & eat immediately or save for later
Add a dollop of whipped cream if you like