Pro-curetember Day 24: Baking/Cooking!
Bonjour~! For today's prompt, I thought I'd give us all a lovely Animal Sweets recipe from Kirakira Pretty Cure A La Mode Episode 37, translated into English~. We'll be looking at the Hamster Pumpkin Pudding recipe! It's noted as a two star difficulty out of three, so keep that in mind.
1 Baby Pumpkin (This one was a palm-sized sweet and fluffy pumpkin, using about 500g of its innards)
15g (1/2 oz.) of melted, unsalted butter.
A little bit of vanilla oil
For the Sweet Pumpkin Hamster Decoration (Makes 6-8):
1/4 pumpkin (about 200g or 7oz)
10g (1/3 oz) unsalted butter
2 tbsp katakuriko (You can use potato starch)
For your pre-preparation step, place baking paper on a baking sheet, and preheat your oven to 200 Celcius (or 392 Fahrenheit).
Wrap the whole baby pumpkin in plastic wrap, and microwave it in a 600W microwave for about 3 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap, cut off the top third, and remove the seeds and pulp with a spoon.
Wrap the container and lid you just made in the plastic wrap again. Microwave once more in a 600W microwave for 1-2 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap, and being careful not to tear the skin, hollow out the container and lid. Note that the microwaved pumpkin will be very hot, so be careful when removing it!
Put the hollowed-out pumpkin's flesh (that you removed in step 2) into a blender, along with the brown sugar, milk, eggs, and melted butter. If you don't own a blender, mash the pumpkin flesh thoroughly with a fork, then mix in the other ingredients.
Beat your mixture from Step Three in a bowl, and add in the vanilla. Strain the mixture through a sieve once, back into a bowl.
Place a steaming plate or dish in a pot filled with water (not the amounts included in the recipe). Place a sheet of baking paper on top, then place the Pumpkin Container you made in Step 2 on top of this. Pour in the pudding mixture you made in step 4, and steam for 2 minutes over high heat, then for 20 minutes over very low heat. Allow it to cool in the pot, then place in the refrigerator to chill. Freshly made pudding is very soft, so letting it cool in the pot without moving it is essential! Main Pudding is done!
Time for the caramel sauce! Put granulated sugar and water in a saucepan, stir thoroughly, and then place on medium heat. Shake and tilt the pan to dissolve the sugar, as stirring can make the sugar harden and become gritty. Avoid stirring!
Once it has taken on a deep color, has turned fragrant, and is slightly smoking, turn off the heat and add in the boiling water. Be careful, since steam rises! It's safer to use a container with a handle when adding boiling water. Sauce is done!
Time to make the sweet pumpkin! Remove the seeds and pulp from the quarter pumpkin with a spoon, and remove the skin with a knife, before cutting into bite-sized pieces. If you're young, ask a grown-up for help with the knife! Place the pumpkin on a heat-resistant plate, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and heat in a 600W microwave for 4 minutes.
Put the pumpkin you heated in Step Eight into a bowl, and mash with a whisk. While it's still hot, add the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and half of the beaten eggs, and mix.
Add the katakuriko (or potato starch) to the mixture you made in Step Nine, bring it together with your hands and divide it into 6-8 equal parts. Shape the hamster's body and hands, as well as some small stars, and arrange the paws in front of the hamster's head on a baking sheet, then brush with the remaining beaten egg. If the mixture is still too soft to shape, add more katakuriko (or potato starch) to adjust it.
Half the almonds to make small ears, and place them on the pumpkin hamster's head that you made in step 10. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 Celsius (or 392 Fahrenheit) for 8 to 10 minutes, then allow to cool. Be careful when removing them from the oven, as they'll be hot!
Dip a chocolate pen in hot water and cut the tip, and use it to draw the eyes, nose, and mouth of the hamster on the pumpkin hamster. Use the yellow chocolate pen to draw the eyes and mouth of the jack-o-lantern on the pumpkin container. If it's too difficult to write directly on the pumpkin itself, you can write on a baking sheet and place it in the refrigerator to cool before applying.
Place the pumpkin hamster on top of the pumpkin pudding, and the pumpkin stars between its paws. Finish by pouring the caramel sauce over the top, and serving while in the pumpkin container on whatever plate you wish.
This was tough to translate, but I hope you all appreciate the thorough and detailed description of the method of making this hamster pumpkin pudding today! It was a lot of work, but it'll be worth it! Let's all make something tasty in the upcoming months, alright? Régale-toi bien!
Procuretember Event by @pro-curetember
