How to make
I really love pumpkins and plus it's always good to have desserts be a bit more dietary to keep a thin waist. And so, after some bouts of inspiration I came up with this, which was immediately approved by my picky husband and written down in the recipe book under the title - The pumpkin recipe you have to make again.
Let's get down to the complex recipe. Pick out a longer butternut squash so you can cut out more circles. Peel it and use the part without the seeds. Cut it into circles about 1 finger thick. Arrange them in an oven dish, laid out with baking paper.
Smear each piece with a little tahini - I like to use peanut tahini because it has a slightly different, chocolaty taste (I'm a chocolate fan). But it turns out delicious with sesame tahini as well. Put a little honey on top, preferably the runny kind, so you can easily complete a full circle with it.
You're going to need as many apples as to have enough for all pieces of pumpkin. Clean the apples of their seeds with an apple corer. Peel them and cut them into round slices about 1 finger thick.
Arrange them on top of the pumpkin slices. In the resulting hole, put dried fruits - I used cranberries but you can improvise with whatever you have available. Sprinkle with cocoa (I wanted it chocolaty) or with cinnamon and ginger, if you prefer a wintry aftertaste. If desired, you can finish off with sesame seeds.
Put it to bake at 340°F (170 °C) for about 20 min. You can check with a toothpick to see if it's ready.
*The good thing about this recipe is you can vary the products:
- use whatever tahini you prefer;
- sweeten with honey or treacle or leave it up to the butternut squash's sweetness;
- you can experiment with the spices - cinnamon, cocoa, dried ginger, even nutmeg;
- sprinkle with nuts - walnuts, ground almonds or hazelnuts - or completely omit them if you don't have any;
I've prepared it in all kinds of variations - it's always good and there's never any left over. Plus it's dietary, delicious and interesting.
Make yourself a hot chocolate, serve the pastries with it and enjoy the divine taste!
