Hello everyone, it's Liz and I'm back with another delicious dessert for the month using pumpkin in a recipe I'm calling Sweet Roasted Pumpkin Cups. The last two weekends has delivered the nicest weather here. Sunny blue skies, warm days, cold nights. Yellow and orange leaves are everywhere and I love seeing the pumpkins at the markets – a sign that Autumn has arrived! There are pumpkins everywhere now. On the farmers’ markets, in the supermarkets – and such variety, too.

A few years ago pumpkins were a rarity here in Germany, did you know that? I love the hokkaido, because it doesn’t has to be peeled. And since I like easy dinners, using hokkaido in the kitchen is exactly up my alley. It originates from the Japanese island Hokkaido, where it was imported by Americans in 1878. Here in Germany, pumpkin is often eaten as a savory dish: as soup, mashed up, pickled – only occasionally in a pie. I thought using it in a sweet dish could be appealing. I mixed chunks of pumpkin with one big sweet potato, roasted them in the oven, made the nutty topping with a hint of cinnamon and served it to a very critical foodie friend! He ate two cups right away and said, “It really tastes like autumn!” so I guess this recipe passed the test!

Now my daughter is begging me to carve a pumpkin. She thinks carving one would be more fun than eating. Good thing nobody has told her about trick-or-treating yet! So I’ll muster up my courage and start that project next - pumpkin carving. But for now, I'll leave you with a hearty dose of autumnal crunchiness and good cheer.

Roasted Pumpkin in a Cup - makes 4 cups

For the filling: 1 small hokkaido pumpkin 1 big sweet potato 1 egg 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon maple syrup

For the topping: 3 tablespoons melted butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 cup almonds (with skins), chopped 1/2 cup spelt flour

whipped cream for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Rinse the pumpkin, cut it in half, remove the seeds and cut the pumpkin into chunks. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Peel the sweet potato, cut into chunks, and place these on the baking sheet as well. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes. The pumpkin and potato shouldn’t turn too dark. Remove and turn down the temperature to 300 °F. For the topping, mix the butter with the sugar and cinnamon. Add the flour and chopped almonds and mix until you have crumbles. Set aside.

Place the roasted pumpkin and sweet potato in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add the egg, cream, vanilla and maple syrup. Butter 4 oven-proof cups and scoop the mixture into the cups. Sprinkle with the topping, place the cups in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 15 minutes, cover the cups with tin foil so that they don’t turn too dark.

Serve while still slightly warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy the season! - Liz.

(text/photos/recipe: Lisa Nieschlag)