From Jonathan Mathias, A Dash of Salt catering, http://www.adashofsaltcooking.com/
Preheat oven to 400
Butter and sugar 4+ ramekins — depending on the size of the pumpkin and the size of your ramekins, it's better to prepared to handle more.
Prepare the Streusel:
¼ lb. sweet butter
¼ c. of sugar
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. ground clove
pinch of nutmeg
“a dash of salt”
¼ – ½ c. flour
Blend the butter and the next five ingredients together in a stand mixer. Then mix in flour until you get a crumbly texture. Pat it down on a piece of wax paper and set aside to dry out a little bit.
Prepare the Spiced Cider:
1 qt. apple cider
8 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2" piece of peeled fresh ginger root, sliced into thin coin shapes
Put it all in a pan, bring to a boil, turn of heat and let steep until cool. Strain out the spices.
Make the Cider Liaison:
6 oz. heavy cream
1 T. sugar
4 egg yolks
12 oz. spiced cider
Blend cream, sugar and yolks slowly to avoid air bubbles. Mix cream with cider and using a double boiler heat to 155 degrees, stirring constantly. At 155º the mixture will thicken and coat the back of a spoon. Careful not to overcook or it's scrambled eggs. Remove from heat.
Pumpkin Filling:
1 small sugar pumpkin
½ stick of sweet butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar + 1 t. sugar (separate)
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. ground clove
1/8-teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 c. sugar
Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds and stringy bits. Chop it up into even 1/4" dice. Place pumpkin in a bowl and pour butter over it, toss to coat.
Mix 1 t. sugar and spices together and sprinkle over pumpkin. Toss to coat evenly.
Spread diced pumpkin on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Place in a 400º oven and roast for 20 – 25,minutes, stirring a couple of times.
Divide the roasted pumpkin pieces and puree half in a food processor with the remaining 1/4 c. sugar. Mix the chunks and the puree together and then stir in half of the cider liaison.
Fill the ramekins with pumpkin, pour an ounce of the cider liaison on top. Then top with with a pat of streusel. Bake in a 375 degree oven for twenty minutes or until the streusel is nicely browned and the innards are all bubbling up around the edges.
Let sit until just warm before serving. Or make in advance and re-heat gently before serving. Top with a generous blob of Secret Ingredient Whipped Cream. If you have hot caramel sauce to drizzle over the whole affair, by all means go for it!
"Secret Ingredient" Whipped Mascarpone Topping
½ c. mascarpone cheese
1 T. sugar
½ t. vanilla
1 c. whipping cream
In a stand mixer, whip the cream until it's firm. Scrape that out and add the mascarpone with the sugar and vanilla and whip this mixture well until it is smooth and fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream.
© Jonathan Mathias 2011
