I like to cook but I’m not that great with making desserts. I saw this recipe in Food Network Magazine (October 2012) and thought it looked delicious and easy enough for even me to make. The two key ingredients in this is apples and pumpkin and since October is considered National Apple Month (and of course pumpkins are in abundance this month), I decided to give it a try…it’s a fairly inexpensive, yet impressive dessert and let me tell you….VERY delicious!
APPLE-PUMPKIN BROWN BETTY –
Active Time: 35 minutes
Total: 2 hr 45 min
Serves: 4 to 5 for approx $5.00
Ingredients:
- 1 2-to-3-pound sugar pumpkin (I don’t know if the one I used was a sugar pumpkin-I just bought a small one)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup cubed bread (preferably from a baguette)
- 2 Gala apples, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup golden raisins (I actually used regular raisins because they were less expensive)
- 1 tbsp rum (optional)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- kosher salt
- maple syrup, for drizzling*
*I didn’t use the maple syrup when I priced this. The first helping I ate without any drizzle and it was fabulous as is. The second helping I had, I added a bit of pancake syrup and that was yummy too! The third, yes I said third, helping I tried was with vanilla ice cream and that was really good too!
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice off and reserve the top 1 1/4 inches of the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bread and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the apples, brown sugar and raisins to the skillet and cook until the apples are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.
Stir in the rum, vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Return the bread to the skillet.
Put the pumpkin in a small baking dish and fill the pumpkin with the apple mixture.
Cover with the pumpkin top and add 1 inch of boiling water to the baking dish.
Cover loosely with foil and bake until the pumpkin is tender, 2 hours to 2 hours, 30 minutes. Remove the foil and pumpkin top and return the stuffed pumpkin to the oven. Bake until the filling is lightly browned, about 10 more minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with maple syrup (if using). To serve, scrape the pumpkin flesh and stir into the apple mixture.
This is really, really delicious and didn’t take much prep work. And oh my gosh, the house smelled so good as it baked. I think this would be fun to bake in the really small pumpkins too for individual sized portions…more work scooping all the pumpkins but fun for the family or company. I will make for our Thanksgiving dinner too.