The end-of-year Holidays are upon us! Whether it’s for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s…if you’re looking for a delicious and divinely decadent show-stopper dish, we’ve got you. This Baked Pumpkin Fondue recipe brings a big WOW factor to impress and satisfy guests at any Autumn/Winter gathering. Baked straight in the pumpkin and served warm, be prepared to gleefully scoop out every last bite with your loved ones as you hum with sheer delight.
We are bringing back this fan-favorite fall recipe from the archives– lovingly passed on to our Sirens & Scoundrels readers by Hayley McCarthy and the women in her family from Orange, Australia. More on Hayley’s family story can be found in our original post HERE.
All ingredients can be swapped for vegan alternates for a vegan version.
Baked Pumpkin Fondue
Serves: 8-10
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1.5 to 2 hours
Ingredients
- 1 large pumpkin – about 4kg’s or 8.5 pounds with the stem. (Japanese pumpkins are best or any baking pumpkin that is sweet and has a lot of flesh)
- 6 Tbsp butter (alt: vegan butter)
- salt & pepper
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup grated Swiss cheese (alt: vegan cheese shreds)
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 1 ½ cups of soft chunky breadcrumbs (**we used gluten-free)
- 1 large brown onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon of sage
- 2 ¼ cups of cream (alt: coconut milk, coconut cream, or mix of both)
- French bread or bread of your choice for dipping
TIP for choosing your pumpkin: The ingredients are in proportion to pumpkin size and thickness of the flesh. If you have a large pumpkin but it weighs less than 6.5 pounds after seeds are discarded, feel free to double the recipe. Try to find a pumpkin that has the most flesh, like Japanese/ Kent/ Queensland Blue, which are all particularly sweet. The more flesh, the juicier the pumpkin and the more accurate the amount of ingredients to fill it for this recipe. For this bake, we used traditional orange pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.
1. Preheat your oven to 400°. Cut the top off of the pumpkin, about 4 inches in diameter. Keep this as the lid of the pumpkin for baking.
TIP: Cut the lid off at a slight 45 degree angle in towards the center versus straight down. This is so that the lid will sit on top of the pumpkin while baking and not fall into the hole.
2. Scrape out all the seeds and string from inside using a large spoon and discard.
TIP: If you have time, set the seeds aside. Later you can separate the seeds from the stringy flesh and toss them in a little olive oil and spices. Bake the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet at 300° for 45 minutes…delicious!
3. Rub 2 Tbsp of butter (or vegan butter) along the inside walls of the pumpkin and the top of the lid. Season with salt & pepper.
4. Dice the onion into small pieces. Set aside.
5. Grate your cheese (or vegan cheese). Set aside.
6. You can make your own breadcrumbs by chopping a loaf of bread or gluten-free bread in a food processor. Boxed bread crumbs can work in a pinch.
7. Cook the onions in a large frying pan with the remaining butter (or vegan butter). Add the breadcrumbs to the onions, letting it soak up the butter. Add salt, pepper, sage and nutmeg. Remove from heat and stir in the grated Swiss cheese (or vegan cheese).
8. Place your pumpkin on an iron skillet or a sturdy baking dish. Spoon the mixture into the hollow pumpkin. Pour the cream (or vegan cream/milk) into the pumpkin, adding the bay leaves. Gently stir the mixture and place the pumpkin lid back on top!
TIP: The ingredients should fill the inside of the pumpkin up to the lid. So depending upon the thickness of the flesh and the size of the inside, you may need more or less ingredients. Alter the proportions accordingly.
9. Bake the pumpkin for 1 ½ to 2 hours until the flesh is cooked on the inside.
TIP: If the pumpkin becomes too brown on the outside after the first hour, you can wrap foil around the outside while it still cooks the inside.
10. You can tell if your pumpkin is cooked by its soft flesh and oozing sauce rising from the top. Once it is cooked, pull your pumpkin out of the oven, ready to serve.
11. While the oven is still hot, grab some French bread and bake it for 5 minutes or until it becomes hot and crunchy. Cut bread into pieces and scatter it around the base of the pumpkin.
12. Using a spoon, scrape and stir the soft pumpkin flesh into the fondue before serving. Dip the bread into your gooey baked pumpkin fondue and enjoy as an appetizer.
Alternatively, cut your pumpkin up and enjoy it as a side dish alongside your favorite Holiday main course.
We hope you enjoy this little gem over the Holidays. It’s a wonderful sharing dish and the perfect excuse to bring family and friends together.
Bon Appétit!
~ love, Hayley and Sirens & Scoundrels
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Words by Sarah Prikryl & Christina Huntington // Recipe & Contributing Photography by Hayley McCarthy
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