Autumn colors (1) : Pumpkin crust

A pie crust colored by the golds of Autumn. It’s easy, delicious and you can use it for many recipes or pies, tarts, etc.

The season’s star : kabocha pumpkin. You can use other types of pumpkin, some will be more watery so you will need to add less water.

Kabocha pumpkin crust : 1/3 boiled pumpkin flesh, 1/3 flour, 1/3 whole wheat flour. Plus a little baling powder, salt and enough of the squash cooking water to for a dough.
It’s not very solid when raw, so spread it on a silpat or a plastic film.

That gives the neutral version for both sweet and savory pies, but you can add sugar or salt and spices too.

Then I baked them at 160 degrees, about 30 minutes.

A dessert version, very lazy. I’ve garnished with coconut cream, walnuts, unsweetened chocolate (100% cocoa mass), cinnamon. The only “sugar” is a minced prune.

Fig tartelette, with peanut crust and shikwasa cream

A quick nutty and fruity dessert, very healthy. There is no added sugar, it’s pure fruit flavor. The crust is pleasantly soft with crunchy bits of peanut in it (don’t blend too much).

I had only one fig left. With half I’ve cut nice slices. I’ve used the white parts for the cream.

The crust : In the blender, 2 tbs of oatmeal, a handful of peanuts. When it’s roughly powdered, add a cut prune, a little water, a pinch of salt. Blend into a sticky dough. Garnish a mold. Bake till dry, about 6 minutes at 160 degrees C in the oven toaster.

Shikwasa is a small citrus from Okinawa. The size is about 1 centimeter of diameter. They are a little sour and extremely fragrant.

The cream : Without cleaning the blender, add the half of fig, 1/2 juice of shikwasa and a little grated zest, 2 tbs of silky tofu. Make a cream. Add a little prune to make it sweet to your taste.

So simple walnut brownie ice cream

It’s addictive… I already made it 3 times.
The idea of this delight is not from me. It’s from the shop. Walnut brownie…mmmm…. ice cream…mmm. I had to try that.
Actually, it lacked flavor of chocolate, there was nearly no bits of walnut. Names are always mouth watering but I find most commercial ice creams disappointingly bland, mostly fat and sweet. So I made mine.

Super easy :
Slice and freeze 2 small bananas. Place them in a blender with 3 tbs of good unsweetened cocoa, a pinch of instant coffee a 1/3 cup of water. Blend it into a cream. Mix in a handful of walnuts broken in big pieces.

Pour in 3 cups. You can eat them immediately if you like soft cream type.

Cover with a film and place in the freezer at least one hour and your have an ice-cream texture.
And you can really feel the chocolate and walnut brownie melting in your mouth. The banana flavor is extremely light, it simply brings sweetness and enhances the nuances of the cocoa.