Oh What a Food Season (time for pumpkin and apple desserts)!

The transition from summer to fall is unreal. In my state, North Carolina, we have peaches, watermelon, apples and pumpkins all at the same time. We are savoring the last of the summer fruit and eager to fully enjoy the fall pickings.

Today I am going to share two great tasting, super healthy, non-inflammatory fall recipes: Pumpkin Custard (two variations) and Raw Apple Pie.

Pumpkin Custard

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks

• 2 whole eggs

• 1.5 c. pumpkin puree (I make my own – just do an Internet search for directions)

• 1 t. ground cinnamon

• ½ t ground cardamom

• ¼ t. ground ginger

• ½ t. ground nutmeg

• ½ c. raw, unfiltered honey (I use less)

• ¾ c. coconut milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, eggs and pumpkin puree. Add the spices, and once they are fully combined, pour in the honey and mix again. The batter will become very wet and it will be liquid, but keep going.

Add the coconut milk and stir well to combine. Pour into a 9” pan and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue baking for another 30 to 35 minutes. I always start testing for doneness a bit early.

NOTE: For coconut milk I use Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate. Directions are to combine 1 t. coconut cream with 6 to 8 ounces of water to make coconut milk.

Pumpkin Custard – A Variation

The first custard is delicious, but my family has removed honey from our diet for the last six weeks, so I needed a substitute. Enter the over-ripe banana. I replaced the honey with 1.5 over-ripe bananas, added ¼ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp vanilla. While this version isn’t quite as good as the first one, it is good enough.

The big test will come tomorrow when my dad arrives for a visit. As a diabetic controlling his blood sugar with diet and a low dose medication, he is a pretty low/no sweetener guy. Just in case the pumpkin doesn’t fly, I am making the raw apple pie below.

Whipped Cream Anyone?

If you would like some whipped cream with this custard, enjoy! Try to use raw honey to sweeten it if you can. It is healthier than any other sweetener.

If dairy is an issue for you, check out this recipe. We no longer use it, as we have dramatically decreased our nut consumption and are avoiding honey:

Ingredients:

• 1 c. raw cashews

• ¾ c. filtered water

• 1 T raw, unfiltered honey

• ½ t. vanilla

Directions:

Soak cashews over night in filtered or distilled water with 1/2 tsp. sea salt. Drain and rinse thoroughly.

Place ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Store in refrigerator and serve cold.

To learn why you are supposed to soak nuts, please read this post: Nuts, Cod Liver Oil (CLO) and Butter Oil Questions. You will see that the nuts for the Raw Apple Pie are soaked as well.

Raw Apple Pie

This is an incredibly delicious alternative for people who dislike pumpkin custard/pie. Even my husband, who will not eat cooked fruit such as that in traditional apple pie, really likes this one.

This recipe comes from Recipe Czar. I do not add the ground flax seeds because they are illegal on our current eating plan, even though freshly ground flax seeds have great health benefits.

Ingredients:     

Crust

• 2 cups walnuts (I sometimes use raw almonds)

• 1/2 cup dates, pitted and chopped

• 1 T coconut oil (to hold the crust together once refrigerated)

Filling

• 1 cup distilled water

• 1 cup raisins (I do not use raisins because we are trying to keep our sweetener low)

• 5 apples, peeled and cored

• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (I don’t use these)

• 1/2 cup dry coconut flour (I use 1/3 cup coconut flour from Tropical Traditions)

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon allspice

• 1 lemon, juice of (I do not use this, as I find the pie too sour and then have to add honey to offset it)

Optional Topping

• Unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut flakes

• Nut-based whipped cream (recipe above)

Pie Directions

Soak walnuts in distilled or filtered water overnight with 1 tsp. sea salt. Drain and rinse thoroughly.

Soak raisins in distilled water.

Using food processor, combine crust ingredients; press into pie pan.

Place all filling ingredients (including water and raisins) into food processor and pulse until a medium coarseness is achieved.

Place filling into pie crust, sprinkle with coconut if desired, chill and serve.

Hopefully these recipes will inspire you to find some fun ones too. If you do, please report back and share!

Comments

[Noe-R]

Hope you have a good visit with your Dad. Pregunta: where are you getting your cashews?
Noelia.

[Laura Combs]

In a sealed bag from Whole Foods or Trader Joes. I wish we weren't getting any - I don't like the aflatoxin issue, but Ryan wants some. Moving to macademias soon!