autumn

Chocolate, pumpkin and pecan brownies

November 04

These pumpkin brownies are so delicious, you just have to try them. I didn’t manage to get my hands on pumpkin puree so I made my own. I slowly roasted the pumpkin until it was soft, scraped out the flesh, then I puréed the mixture and passed it through a sieve.

Serves 20
45 mins

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a rectangular baking tin, approximately 20cm x 30cm (8-12in) and 3-4cm (1 1/4-1 1/2in) deep, with greaseproof or parchment paper.
2. To make the pumpkin mixture, beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Keep to one side. For the chocolate mixture, melt the butter and chocolate together, either in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or gently in the microwave.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric hand whisk until thick and creamy. Mix in the melted chocolate and butter. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and pecans.
4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the lined baking tin and level off the surface. Using a tablespoon, drop dollops of the pumpkin mixture all over the top, and then, using the back of a table knife, loosely swirl it into the chocolate mixture.
5. Place in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes, until the top is cracking and the centre is just set. Leave to cool in the tin for 40-45 minutes before cutting into bite-sized squares.

Makes about 20 squares:

For the pumpkin mixture:

25g butter

75g cream cheese

100g caster sugar

1 egg

100ml pumpkin purée

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground ginger

75g plain flour

For the chocolate mixture:

200g unsalted butter

200g dark chocolate, chopped

3 large eggs

300g granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

125g plain flour

Pinch of salt

100g pecans, roughly chopped

You'll Need

Rectangular baking tin, approximately 20cm x 30cm (8-12in) and 3-4cm (1 1/4-1 1/2in) deep

Mixing bowl x 2

If you liked this

This muffin recipe is incredibly easy to make. You basically combine wet and dry ingredients, spoon the batter into muffin cases and bake! You can make this same recipe without pumpkin puree and instead use milk. The tinned pumpkin purée is made by Libby’s and comes in 822g tins. Many good speciality food shops carry them at this time of year and they are perfect for seasonal baking. If you want to add more texture to the muffins add some of the nuts throughout the batter.

light-meals
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Roast Pumpkin, Coconut and Chilli Soup

October 14

If you haven’t cooked with pumpkin before, this is a wonderful way to start. Choose small pumpkins as they’re easier to tackle in the kitchen. If you can’t find pumpkins, butternut squash is an ideal substitute. The addition of coconut milk adds a wonderfully creamy and exotic flavour, but if you don’t want to use it you could just make up the difference with vegetable stock.

main-meals
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Roasted Pumpkin & Ricotta Ravioli

October 23

Dark evenings and blustery days can mean only one thing: pumpkin season has officially arrived! This incredibly delicious supper is fairly easy to make if you’re a dab hand with a pasta making machine. However, if you don’t want to face making your own dough, you can cheat and use wonton wrappers available in Asian food stores in the frozen section. Whatever way you choose to make them, the combination of sweet pumpkin in tender pasta parcels, coated in nutty butter with crispy prosciutto and earthy mushrooms is the perfect seasonal supper.

autumn

Chocolate, pumpkin and pecan brownies

November 04

Method

Ingredients

You'll Need

If you liked this

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