Crustless pumpkin pie

Squash is great for making deserts. It's rich and sweet while being still relatively low on the carbs, and besides richness and sweetness it provides texture and moistness to a cake or pudding. I've used it as a base for all sorts of things, from brownies to Christmas pudding. I've never actually gone the whole hog and made a pumpkin pie with it, though, and with this being squash season, I suddenly thought I'd give it a go.

I decided to go crustless this time. I used butternut squash, cubed and baked covered until soft with a little butter. I mashed this with ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, maple syrup and cream. Couple of egg yolks and then folded in the beaten whites. Dotted the top with caramelised pecans (soaked overnight, then fried for a couple of minutes in butter and sugar). Baked until set.

It might sound like a lot of sweetening, but actually it needed very little - probably no more than a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup and less than a teaspoon of sugar for caramelising the nuts.

Verdict: it tasted wonderful; however, there were certain issues. It was a little on the wet side; next time I think I'd roast the squash rather than baking covered to reduce the moisture a little. I think the egg-white-whipping was a mistake, on the whole; it contributed to the wetness and made the whole thing just a bit too soft - it didn't have that sticky custard-like texture. I might also try crème fraîche or mascarpone, or even ricotta, instead of plain cream.