ALOHA JOE'S PUMPKIN PATCH Pumpkin recipes from listeners!!!
MARIE SCHLLY'S PUMPKIN CUPS
"Another super idea"
For the actual pumpkin cups,
use any ovenproof baking dish, like a custard cup. Btw, the other baking
dish (ram·e·kin) is pronounced ra-mi-k&n.
I use them for mini soufflés or for custards.
1. Make the filling as you would for your pumpkin
pie.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees if using glass or ceramic dishes, if
metal or the like,
preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Lightly grease the inside of the baking cups,
using a cooking spray or lightly brush with oil.
4. Fill the cups no more than 3/4 full.
(We usually make one-cup servings, so use whatever oven-proof dishes you
have that will hold a cup with about a half-inch to spare on the top once
filled to usually 3/4 full. The basic rule here is to fill whatever
container to no more than 3/4 full and have room to space since they poof
while cooking.)
4. Place the filled cups in a baking pan that will allow you to fill the
pan with very warm water up to at least
1/2 the level of the pumpkin cup.
5. Place the pan with the cups in the over and add the very warm water to
the desired level. (As you probably know, this technique is called a
water bath, and is used for baking egg custards of any kind.)
6. Bake for anywhere from usually 40 minutes to an hour. (Depends on the
humidity in the air among other things.) At about 40 minutes, check for
doneness by inserting a knife in the center and seeing if the knife comes
out clean or with only a smidge of residual on the edge of the knife.
Another technique to check for doneness is to see if they jiggle (like
Jello) in the middle. When they barely jiggle, time to remove them from
the oven.
Takes more practice, but insures that they won't be overcooked. You can
overcook these, and they are grainy rather than smooth and creamy, so
remember that they will continue cooking as they cool down, so erring a
bit (and only a bit) on what seems under-cooked won't be a bad thing.
(It's like only cooking the chicken breast to 3/4 doneness because as it
sits on the plate it will continue to cook and be just right.)
I love this dessert, so I'm glad to share.
Aloha -- and good luck!!
Marie Schilly
