Every year when Thanksgiving comes around, I want the taste of pumpkin pie without the time consuming process of making pie crust. For the past few years I’ve been making pumpkin custard, a spicier pumpkin pie filling baked without a crust. It’s an easy quick two bowl, mix it up process. Pumpkin custard is delicious on its own or with ice cream, cookies, whipped cream. Try it hot, room temperature or cold. High in fiber, rich in spice, and with minimal sugar, this dessert makes me want to celebrate. This is a dessert for more than Thanksgiving, it’s one to go back to all winter long. Try it with puree of squash or sweet potato too.

Ingredients:

2 -15oz cans pumpkin puree, or 30 oz fresh puree

2 cups coconut sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cloves

4 large eggs

2 cups cold cream, or room temperature coconut milk

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 425F
In a large bowl, place pumpkin puree, coconut sugar, salt, and spices. Mix it up. Taste it now before the eggs are added. The spices should be louder than ideal now as they will be tamed when mixed with fats and cooked.
In a medium bowl, place cold cream. Whisk in cornstarch until smooth. If using coconut milk, whisk in cornstarch until smooth. Add eggs and whisk to mix.
Add egg mixture to pumpkin mixture and blend well.
Divide between 2 8x8 pans.
Bake at 425F 15 minutes.
Turn heat down to 350F and bake for another 30-40 minutes until the center is firm.