Candied pumpkin always manages to turn up somewhere among our Mexican friends every fall. Carla and I have on occasion purposely waited until the last possible moment to carve our jack 'o' lantern at halloween just so we can turn around and morning of November 1st, cut the sucker up and make candy (any extra got cooked down and pureed for pie) - hey, in Vancouver leaving the pumpkin outside for one night in the fall is just like putting it in the fridge (as long as it didn't get blown up). As the dish's origins surround the Dia de Muertos celebrations, the timing is perfect.
The pumpkin is cooked in a syrup made from the piloncillo, but we also throw in some cinnamon, orange and guavas for flavour. At first, it's a bit surprising how little syrup is needed, but the pumpkin releases a lot of water during the cooking. Since the size of the pumpkin will always vary, it will get easier with time figuring out how much syrup is appropriate for each batch (Carla's grandmother gets fantastic results every time and even cooks it while she sleeps).
The pieces of pumpkin are generally served with the syrup (and orange and guavas), so you want to have a nice consistency flavour to it at the end. It is a syrup after all, so ideally, you have a nice viscosity without a sweetness level that will make your teeth fall out. If you find that your syrup is a bit low during the cooking, you can either add a little more water, or turn the pieces to make sure the syrup gets absorbed evenly. If you have a little too much syrup, you can always remove the pumpkin once it's done, then bring the syrup back down, then pour it over the pieces in the container you'll be storing it in if not eating right away.
As for the latest batch we made, we found it easiest to give the guavas and orange a cook in the syrup first, then took them out before adding the pumpkin. This way, the fruit flavours got in the syrup for the pumpkin to absorb, but we didn't have to worry about trying to mix everything up during the process, and we had a little more control over how much they got cooked. Of course they were returned to the mix at the end.
You will need:
1 small to medium pumpkin
2 piloncillos (227g / 8oz each)
1 orange
6 guavas2-3 cinnamon sticks
125ml / 1/2C water
Method:
- start by dissolving the piloncillos in the water with the cinnamon sticks
- slice the orange and cut the guavas into wedges and add to the syrup
- simmer the orange and guavas in the syrup about 15 minutes, then remove and set aside
- cut the pumpkin open, remove the seeds, and cut into pieces
- arrange the pumpkin pieces in the pan, making sure each piece has some flesh in contact with the syrup
- slowly simmer the pumpkin until you see it has released the water into the syrup
- if necessary, turn the pieces to immerse the other side in the syrup
- cook slowly until the pumpkin has taken the dark colour of the syrup and is very tender
- return the orange and guavas to the pan and tuck them back into the syrup amongst the pumpkin
- serve the pumpkin along with the fruit with a bit of the syrup (some like a little milk on top too)
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