Roasted Sweet Potato & Feta Tarts

I love using stuff up. Is that weird? I love the challenge of trying to come up with something a little different from the norm that’s tasty and I have all the ingredients for. Winter is definitely upon us and a warm lunch is always welcome. I have anything for lunch but if my husband happens to be home, I’ll go to a bit of extra effort. I had 2 small sweet potatoes in the vegetable crisper and the tiniest bit of feta cheese left in the fridge so that’s how these Roast Sweet Potato & Feta Tarts came about.

I was prompted to roast the sweet potato because I already had the oven on baking muffins or cookies for the kids. That’s probably the reason why I decided on these tarts. You know, “make hay while the sun shines”? I cut them in small-ish chunks and tossed in a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until tender.

I only ever use 2 eggs when I make these tarts. I bulk out the egg mixture with whatever cream like ingredient I have. It could be cream cheese, yoghurt, sour cream or even milk but in this case I had a tiny bit of Greek yoghurt left, maybe about 1/2 cup. Beat the eggs, mix through the yoghurt and add a little salt and pepper. This is when you could add other herbs or spices if you like.

While the sweet potato was roasting you could prepare the pans. I love these semi circle type pans. They are just perfect for tart shells, cakes or biscuits you want to turn into cases. I just spray with a little oil spray to stop the pastry sticking.

Cut out the pastry using a pastry cutter and press into the pan. (I always, always have ready made puff pastry in the freezer. It’s so handy to make these kind of dishes at the last minute.)

Pop in the roasted sweet potato and chopped feta. You could add a sprinkling of cheese but I didn’t feel like adding it on this particular occasion so left it off. Pour over the beaten egg and yoghurt mixture and place in a 180 deg C oven for approximately 20 minutes or until egg mixture has set.

And done. I could’ve baked these a little more but I’ve been having trouble with my oven lately where it burns everything on the bottom. That’s why they’re not so golden on top but they were cooked and the egg was set.

I drizzled a little balsamic glaze over the top and served with a side salad. Really scrummy and an alternative to a boring old sandwich for lunch. If you’re ever roasting vegetables for your evening meal, keep a few aside and pop in the freezer so you can make this recipe even quicker. If you don’t have feta cheese, don’t worry. Just leave it out or use plain cheddar, parmesan or any other cheese you have.

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Roasted Sweet Potato & Feta Tarts

A quick lunch time treat or snack, these roasted sweet potato and feta tarts are so quick and easy to put together.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 18

Author Anne

Ingredients

• 2 small or 1 large sweet potato diced
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt sour cream, cream or milk
• 1/2 cup feta cheese chopped into small pieces or crumbled
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
2. Roast sweet potato, which has been tossed in extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper, for approximately 20 minutes or until tender.
3. Prepare pastry cases but cutting rounds of puff pastry using a pastry cutter and place in a suitable pan which has been spray with oil spray.
4. Beat eggs and mix in Greek yoghurt (or other ingredient you use).
5. Season with salt and pepper and add other herbs or spices, if required.
6. Place pieces of sweet potato into each tart shell along with a couple pieces of feta cheese.
7. Pour egg mixture into each tart shell.
8. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until egg has set.

Recipe Notes

Drizzle with balsamic glaze (optional).
Serve with a side salad for a meal or on their own for a snack.
Pumpkin is a perfect substitute for the sweet potato.

 

Moroccan Lamb & Roast Pumpkin Salad with Date Vinaigrette

Have I told you how much I love trying new ingredients? They aren’t always in the budget but running my kitchen like a restaurant, where I top up my basic pantry/fridge/freezer staples each fortnight, enables me to sometimes have a bit leftover in the grocery budget to buy unusual ingredients which can turn an ordinary meal into something extraordinary. Dressing a pretty standard Moroccan Lamb & Roast Pumpkin salad with a date vinaigrette sent an every day kind of meal to something extraordinary.

On this occasion, I was pretty lucky to receive two bottles of Exotic Date Vinegars, one sweet and one authentic. I didn’t even know they were ‘a thing’. If I would’ve known about them, I probably would’ve been using them all summer to dress my salads. They gave a beautiful taste to the salad ingredients which complimented the Moroccan flavours of the lamb really well in this dish.

Date vinegar has been used for both food and medicine (*) for many years in the Middle East. Some of the health benefits include:

• assists in weight loss
• prevents cancer
• remedy for a weak heart
• eases childbirth
• menstrual disorders
• strengthens immune system
• high in iron and potassium
• improves fatigue
• eases a persistent cough and helps to remove phlegm
• relieves headaches
• heals burns and skin inflammations

Exotic Date Vinegars are made from 100% dates, nothing else. There is no artificial colouring or preservatives and no chemical filtration. Who would’ve thought dates could be turned into something so delicious and healthy at the same time.

Date nights with my husband are becoming more of an ‘at home’ thing with me spending a little extra on a nice cut of meat instead of paying some ridiculous amount of money for something similar out at a restaurant. Even though these lamb steaks were $26 per kilo, these 5 steaks only cost $9, which was the only cost. I had all the other ingredients. Still a pretty cheap meal, considering. I marinated the leg steaks in a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and a Moroccan spice blend. I buy the blend already made as I use it a lot in cooking but you can make it yourself with basic pantry spices. For a cheaper option, you could use either chicken thighs or breasts or go vegetarian by using chickpeas.

While that’s marinating, cube some pumpkin and toss in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and roast until tender. I just happened to be baking that day so these were popped in between trays of cookies and cake. After roasting, cool until required.

The easiest way I’ve found to mix any kind of vinaigrette is to put all ingredients into a jar with a lid and shake like crazy. It emulsifies pretty well. Use the date vinegar in place of your standard wine or balsamic vinegar that you would use in a normal vinaigrette.

Grill your lamb steaks until just cooked. You want it to be a little pink inside with a lovely char on the outside.

To dress your salad greens, I pour a little of the salad dressing on the platter I’m serving the salad on then toss the greens in the dressing.

For this recipe, I had rocket (arugula) and added a few sprigs of coriander (cilantro) and mint.

Place the roasted pumpkin, sliced red onion, chunks of tomato and the sliced lamb on top of the salad greens. Finish with more coriander. Pour more dressing over the top and you’re done. This was such a quick and easy meal to put together. You can prepare a whole heap of roasted pumpkin in advance and freeze and use until required. It’s a great addition to any salad. My husband and I ate from this one platter. It was romantic (and saved on washing up).

I hope you give it a try. I can’t wait to try the sweet date vinegar. Will let you know what I come up with.

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Moroccan Lamb & Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Date Vinaigrette

All the flavours of Morocco with this easy lamb and roasted pumpkin salad flavoured with a simple vinaigrette made with date vinegar.

Author Anne

Ingredients

• lamb steaks or chicken thigh or breast fillets
• pumpkin cubed and roasted with extra virgin olive oil and salt & pepper
• salad greens rocket, lettuce etc
• red onion sliced thinly
• tomatoes cut into chunks
• fresh herbs coriander, mint, parsley etc
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup Exotic Date Vinegar
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• pinch of sugar
• Moroccan spice blend
• Extra olive oil for marinade

Instructions

1. Marinate lamb (or chicken) steaks in Moroccan spice blend, salt & pepper and olive oil.
2. Leave in fridge for at least 2 hours.
3. Add 3/4 cup olive oil, date vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar to a jar and shake.
4. Toss salad greens and fresh herbs in a little vinaigrette.
5. Pan fry lamb steaks on high until just cooked through and charred on the outside.
6. Allow to sit before slicing.
7. Assemble salad by placing salad greens on a platter, adding roasted pumpkin, red onion, tomatoes and top with sliced lamb.
8. Top with additional coriander to serve.

Recipe Notes

Can be served on a bed of cous cous.
Can use chickpeas instead of meat for a vegetarian version.

Disclaimer: I was gifted two bottles of Exotic Date Vinegar. All photos, thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not paid for this post.

(*) The health benefits of Dates Vinegar may not be fully documented and the information provided, should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice and treatment. Please consult your health care provider if you have any history of medical problem or before taking any alternative remedy.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Pistachios

 

I’ve got a confession to make. Well, if anyone knows me well enough, they’d already know that I’m addicted to Pinterest. There. I said it. I’m addicted to Pinterest. I don’t always look at it as often as I would like but I love looking at all the beautiful recipes out there from the wonderful people I follow. And nothing has filled my Pinterest feed more than pumpkin recipes. Anyone would think it was Fall in the northern hemisphere! I was totally inspired for a sweet pumpkin cake.

 

 

In Australia, pumpkin is a very popular vegetable (also known as butternut squash). Nearly as popular as potato. We enjoy it mashed, baked, as a soup, in pasta, or salads. We love it and eat it all year round. You can’t buy it in a tin in the regular supermarket. I think only specialist US grocery stores might stock it. I’m a bit suss about eating it out of a tin. I much prefer the fresh stuff. I had a bit left in the fridge and steamed it in the microwave, then mashed it which produced a cup full. Just enough for a Pumpkin Cake.

 

 

I also had some wonderful pistachios in the pantry which I thought would compliment the spicy pumpkin cake.  I had a lot of trouble shelling the pistachios. A lot were going in my mouth and not in the bowl for the cake!

 

 

I used my ‘forever faithful’ cake recipe, making a few adjustments and baked in a square pan. I find it produces a lot more pieces of cake for hungry mouths.

 

 

You can’t beat a cream cheese frosting on just about any cake and I had all the ingredients for just that.

 

Pumpkin Cake topped with Cream Cheese Frosting & Pistachios

• 1 and half cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup pureed/mashed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 6 tablespoons oil (I use canola)
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• half teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup pistachio nuts, finely chopped

Frosting:

• 1 tub softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup icing (powdered) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (375 F). 
2. Grease a cake pan well. 
3. Put the flour, spices, sugar, pumpkin and water in a bowl. 
4. Add vanilla, vinegar, oil, baking soda and salt. Mix until mixture is runny.
5. Pour into the tin. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes then take out of tin.
6. Mix frosting ingredients together and when cake has cooled, top with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with finely chopped pistachio nuts

 

 

 

We’re having a bit of a heat wave here in Australia for the last month of Spring so we couldn’t be any further away from Fall weather but no matter what the weather, it’s always a good time for cake.

 

 

Disclaimer: I was gifted packets of pistachios from Wonderful Pistachios. All thoughts, recipes and opinions are my own.

 

 

 

Pumpkin & Feta Triangles

I’ve had a real craving for feta lately and I seem to be putting it into everything I cook.  I had a bit of pumpkin in the fridge and knew pumpkin and feta went well together. How did I want to cook it? I had been at the shops earlier and was thinking about buying filo pastry but knew I had some frozen puff sheets in the freezer that needed using up as they’d been there a while.

I peeled and roughly chopped the butternut pumpkin I had and briefly steamed in the microwave. I mixed it with a bit of feta, some red onion, some toasted pine nuts, a bit of honey and some balsamic vinegar, that’s all.

As the pastry defrosted, you could see how dried it was on the edges. I didn’t care. I just cut the sheet in quarters, piled a spoonful of mixture onto the pastry and folded over. They didn’t seal properly but they turned out fine.

They were really tasty and I served them with a salad. They’ve freezed well and are great to pop out for a quick lunch. You could add cooked chicken or a little bacon to them as well for a meat eater’s option.

Pumpkin & Feta Triangles

• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry
• 1/2 butternut pumpkin, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 125gm feta cheese
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs honey
• 2 tbs pine nuts, toasted
• 1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
2. Steam pumpkin until just soft. (It will cook further in the oven.)
3. Add onion, feta, pine nuts and mix thoroughly.
4. In a small bowl mix together honey and balsamic vinegar and pour over pumpkin mixture.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Cut pastry into 4 squares and brush edges with beaten egg.
7. Add 1-2 tbs of pumpkin mixture into centre of pastry and fold over diagonally.
8. Seal and brush top with beaten egg.
9. Bake until golden on top (approx 15 mins).

And while we’re at it, it must’ve been the week for it because my friend Jo from Country Life Experiment made pumpkin and feta spaghetti. Looks delicious, doesn’t it?

Indian style Pumpkin soup with tamarind

Its definitely soup weather in this part of the world and nothing says ‘winter’ and ‘soups’ to me more than pumpkin soup. I love it plain, with basic curry powder, Thai style, Moroccan style, with any sort of pulses like lentils or chickpeas. Its just such a lovely vegetable to make a soup with. I don’t know why I hadn’t done it before but I love a pumpkin curry so I thought I combine the two with this Indian style pumpkin soup with tamarind.

The tamarind tree produces a pod-like fruit, grown around the world and used in many cuisines to add a sour flavour to a dish. You can buy it from specialty Asian stores in a pulp or dried form and dilute with water or buy it already made into a paste, which is what I have. For about $4.00 you can keep it in the fridge and use it when you need. It keeps forever because you only need a bit. Its perfect to use in Indian, Thai, Mexican, African, West Indian, Middle Eastern and other Asian cuisines. These are the types of ingredients I like to pick up occasionally to broaden my cooking repertoire. If you’re unsure of what else to cook with tamarind, just Google it. Alternatively, you can substitute tamarind with lime or lemon juice or a little vinegar sweetened with a bit of sugar.

I was running out of time but I usually

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prefer to roast pumpkin before making it into soup as it adds a lovely flavour. I had this soup on the table in about 20 minutes flat. I had bought some of those prepackaged garlic naan breads, just to try and they weren’t bad. I think I’d prefer to make them and have them in the freezer ready to pull out as needed. They aren’t too difficult to make but at about $3 for two large ones, they’re good to have as a treat.

Indian style Pumpkin Soup with Tamarind

• 1/4 piece of large or 1/2 of small pumpkin, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• pinch garam masala
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 whole dried chillies (kept whole or use less or more chilli to taste)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
• 2 tbs oil
• 2 tsp tamarind paste
• enough chicken or vegetable stock to cover pumpkin
• salt
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• yoghurt and naan bread (or bread rolls) to serve

(* if you don’t have these spices in your pantry, use an Indian style curry powder or paste)

1. In a pot, heat oil and add cumin, paprika, turmeric, garam masala, mustard seeds, garlic and dried whole chillies and stir over heat until aromatic. 
2. Add chopped pumpkin and cover with enough vegetable or chicken stock.
3. Add tamarind paste, salt and brown sugar.
4. Cook until pumpkin is soft.
5. Mash or blend with a stick blender until smooth.
6. Serve with a dollop of plain yoghurt and naan bread or bread rolls.

Creamy Pumpkin Bake

Since the kids started school, I’ve been taking them away for a holiday for a week when school breaks up for the year. We like to go to the beach or, in particular, to a place near the beach but with a pool. I’m not that keen on them being in the surf since I’ve been on my own. Its hard to watch them especially when the surf can be so unpredictable. If they were a little more confident in the water, I wouldn’t mind. Anyway, we’ve been heading out for our one week away usually with a budget of $1,000. That’s right. Its not cheap and considering everyone else is wanting to go away at the same time, these accommodation places can cash in.

But how would you like to win a holiday a year for 10 years!  Lenard’s Chicken here in Australia are giving one lucky person the chance to win a holiday once a year for 10 years to the value of $4,000 per year. How good would that be? All you have to do is share a special moment from around your dinner table via their Facebook page. It could be your signature dish, a celebration, your child’s first attempt at cooking dinner, anything. Me? I’m not sure I’ve got anything I could submit. There’s not much to celebrate at my dinner table with my fussy eater so I guess I’ll be chugging along each December to a beach house but I’d love for one of you to be in it to win it.

As for the creamy pumpkin bake, I picked up a whole Char-Grilled Split Chicken Tikka from Lenard’s last time I was there and oh my goodness. It was one of the nicest things I’ve ever tasted and you know me and how I like to cook everything from scratch. I wanted an easy side to go with it so while the oven was on cooking the chicken, I sliced some pumpkin, layered it with onions and covered it with a mixture of cream with a half a teaspoon of curry powder thrown in. It was absolutely delicious and one that I’ll cook a lot. My chicken was a little darker than I would like so next time I’ll cover with foil for three quarters of the cooking time and remove towards the end of cooking.

Creamy Pumpkin Bake

• pumpkin, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• cream
• curry powder according to taste
• grated cheese (optional)

1. Layer pumpkin and onions in a baking dish.
2. Mix curry powder into cream and pour over pumpkin. (If you don’t have enough cream to half fill the dish, add chicken stock.)
3. Bake, covered, in a moderate (175 deg C or 375 deg F) oven for approx 30 minutes or until pumpkin is soft.
4. You could add cheese to the top if desired.

Shout yourself an easy meal tonight from Lenard’s and check out their competition online and good luck!

Disclaimer: I received a voucher to sample Lenard’s products. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own.

Pumpkin Biscotti

 

 

I was happily going about my week and weekend, still reeling from the first week back at school after over 2 weeks off. I looked at the date this afternoon and went “eeek”, its the 19th and I haven’t done my recipe for the Surprise Recipe Swap.  I had it all picked out for a month. This month I was paired with Stephanie’s blog Attainable Cuisine. Stephanie is my kind of cook. I loved every single one of her recipes and could’ve cooked any one of them. She likes to cook from scratch like I do.

 

 

 

I decided to go with one of Stephanie’s sweet recipes. I had all of the ingredients. I didn’t have white chocolate as she used in her recipe but managed a little squiggle with the 6 or so squares of dark chocolate I did find in my supply. We don’t have canned pumpkin here in Australia (or we probably do at some specialist American supply store) but we do use pumpkin (or butternut squash as its called in the States) on a regular basis and you’ll be hard pressed not to find pumpkin in any Australian fridge.

 

 

I don’t know why I don’t cook biscotti more often. I love the crunchy texture. Its very easy to do, even if you do have to bake it twice. You can have sweet or savoury versions too and it goes so well with coffee.

 

 

Thanks so much Stephanie for your lovely recipe. I can’t wait to give those Mexican https://www.ugbodybuilding.com/members/10522-Paulsen_75 Quinoa patties a try plus everything else you have cooked. You’ll be a favourite of mine for sure!

 

Pumpkin Biscotti

 

• 3/4 cup mashed pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1 cup brown
  sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp
  baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 squares dark chocolate for garnish

 

Preheat oven to 175 deg C (350 deg F) and line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. This
batter does not spread much but you will need a second cookie sheet after
cutting the biscotti.Sift your dry ingredients together in a bowl; set
aside. Mix the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until well
incorporated. Slowly add your dry ingredient mixture in little by little; mix on
low until all the flour is mixed in.

 

Your batter will be very sticky and thick after you have added all the flour.
Divide the batter into 2 logs onto your cookie sheets. Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove and cool for 10 minutes. Then you will need to cut your biscotti. Turn
your temperature down to 150 deg C (300 deg F) before returning your biscotti back to the
oven.Bake for 10 minutes, pull out of oven and flip each piece. Return
to oven and bake another 10 minutes. Your biscotti may still feel a little soft
after the last 10 minutes but don’t worry it will dry out more while they are
cooling.

 

 

Thanks Stephanie for a look around your blog and your wonderful recipes. Thanks again to Jutta for organising the Surprise Recipe Swap each month. Contact Jutta from Hungry Little Girl if you’d like to join in.

Moroccan Pumpkin & Chickpeas with Couscous

In an effort to eat less meat (for ethical reasons), I’m preparing more meatless meals. I do love the flavours of Morocco and have cooked a Moroccan Chicken and Chickpea Stew in the slow cooker before. This dish was prepared in as long as it took to boil pumpkin. It really was fast food. I got to use up lots of vegies I had in the fridge too. If you don’t have pumpkin, butternut squash or sweet potato would work perfectly.

I love eating food from ethnic cuisines such as Moroccan, Indian, Lebanese, Turkish, etc but it can be quite a bit to set up the spices you might need. You’ll find a crossover of spices in most cuisines with cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, chilli and turmeric. Moroccan food can also have nutmeg, allspice, cayenne pepper and ground ginger. For $2 to $3 you can buy a small jar of premixed Moroccan spices at the supermarket. If you find yourself cooking these types of dishes all the time, it might be more economical to buy the spices in larger packets and make up these blends yourself.

Also, if you haven’t tried couscous before, give it a go. It really is yummy and there are so many things you can mix into it to compliment your dish. I’m sure the kids will love it too.

Moroccan Pumpkin & Chickpeas with Couscous

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• pumpkin, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1 brown onion, sliced thinly
• (any other leftover vegetables – I had baby spinach and a grated beet/carrot/broccoli mix)
• 2 tbs Moroccan spice blend (refer above, use as little or as many as you have)
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbs Greek yoghurt
• salt and pepper
• enough water to just cover the pumpkin in a saucepan
• cashews and/or fresh coriander to serve

Couscous:

• Make up as per instructions on the box.  Add 1 tablespoon of Moroccan spice blend to the oil and fry before adding couscous.

1. Fry sliced onion in the oil until just cooked.
2. Add spices and cook until they become aromatic.
3. Add pumpkin and other vegetables and stir. (I left the baby spinach until the end as it only needed to be heated through.)
4. Cover with enough water to just cover. Add salt and pepper.
5. When pumpkin is cooked, add chickpeas and any other vegetables. Heat through.
6. Once cooked, remove from heat and stir through yoghurt.
7. Serve on top of cooked couscous and garnish with dry roasted cashews and/or fresh coriander.

Lady Flo's pumpkin scones recipe

 

Here in Australia, we love pumpkin (it’s my favourite vegetable). It’s nearly as popular as potato as a vegetable served at most main meals, it’s one of the first solids our babies eat and also quite a popular vegetable for dishes like risotto, pizza toppings, lasagna, ravioli fillings, dips and the way I like, in baking. My fussy nearly 7 year old daughter just won’t eat vegetables but I’ve been putting them in most of my baking for years now. Besides helping her get some goodness, it makes for a lovely moist cake or muffin. But we do love using pumpkin for Lady Flo’s pumpkin scones.

 

 

Some varieties of pumpkin (or butternut squash as it might be known in other parts of the world) we enjoy here in Australia are Queensland Blue, Jap, Butternut, Sweet Dumpling or Golden Nugget.

They’re good to eat because they’re:

• an excellent source of beta carotene and the deeper the flesh colour, the higher the level of this pro-vitamin (it’s converted to vitamin A in the body).
• also a good source of vitamin C, with Queensland Blue coming top of the pumpkin class for this vitamin.
• a source of dietary fibre and they supply (especially Golden nugget and Butternut) a good source of potassium.
• not full of carbohydrate, but some of it is present as natural sugars, which is why they taste sweet.
• low in kilojoules and depending on the variety of pumpkin, 100g has from 125-200kJ.

(Source:  http://www.freshforkids.com.au/veg_pages/pumpkin/pumpkin.html)

 

My Nanna’s homemade vintage scone cutter made from a tin can (a bit rusty to use now but a wonderful keepsake)

One of the most famous ways to use pumpkin in baking (well, here in Queensland at least) is in pumpkin scones. We had a politician here in Queensland called Sir Johannes “Joh” Bjelke-Petersen, (13 January 1911 – 23 April 2005). He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987. His wife, Flo, herself a politician was reknown for her homely, old fashioned advice and recipes, including Pumpkin Scones, which she served to the Queen of England. (For more information on Flo, check out the Wikipedia entry.)

 

I actually had a request from Di at Di-licious Cupcakes, herself an excellent baker, to make some pumpkin scones and I’m only just getting around to it.

Lady Flo’s Pumpkin Scones
(from Classic Country Collection by Flo Bjielke-Petersen)

1 tbs butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup cold mashed pumpkin
2-2.1/4 cups self raising flour
milk for brushing

1. Beat together butter, sugar and salt.
2. Add egg, then pumpkin. Beat well.
3. Finally, stir in very gently, by hand, the sifted flour until just combined. (Do not over work dough as scones will turn out very tough.)
4. Turn onto floured work surface, flatten dough to approx 1″ thickness and cut using scone cutter or cut into squares with a knife, as I did. (I prefer that more square look of a scone.)
5. Place close together on baking tray (this will assist with the rising), brush with milk and bake in a preheated 225 deg C (435 deg F) oven for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

 

I prefer my pumpkin scones with just butter or butter and jam. Scones in Australia are traditionally served in the form of a Devonshire Tea with whipped cream and jam at morning or afternoon tea time.

So, don’t throw out that last bit of mashed pumpkin. Boil it, mash it, whack it in the freezer and make yourself some beautiful, soft fresh pumpkin scones.