Pumpkin Coconut Cream Soup with Cinnamon Croutons

After perusing my new favorite grocery store (The Golden Mango), I found quartered pumpkins for cooking in the refrigerated produce section.  I obviously could not turn this offer down (especially when 3 pounds worth was only $2.00)!!!  With Vegetarian Week quickly looming on the blog, I opted for it, and figured I would find something to do with it.  I didn't want to go the obvious route of pie or bread, and finally remembered that there is such a thing as pumpkin soup!  I wanted to find a balance between sweet and savory though, especially since my dad and sister can be a little picky sometimes!  They really ended up enjoying it, and we are now looking forward to making it the week after Thanksgiving to have with leftover turkey sandwiches!  I also almost forgot to mention that this actually ended up being a vegan recipe!

Pumpkin Coconut Cream Soup with Cinnamon Croutons
Yields 6 servings


To Prepare the Soup 
1. Puree 3 pounds of pumpkin.  If you are going to puree them from scratch, you will need to cut the pumpkin into manageable pieces, and remove all of the seeds and goopy stringy bits!  Leave the skin on though, as it peels off much more easily after it is baked.  Bake the pumpkin in a casserole dish at 350 degrees for an hour and a half!  When the pumpkin is done cooking, cool it, peel it, and puree it either in a food processor or in a food mill.  If you do not want to go through this process, use 3 pounds of pumpkin from the grocery store!  Just be sure it is pumpkin puree and not the pie filling though!

2. Start boiling the pumpkin puree in a large pot.
3. Add in a can of cream of coconut (Approximately 16 ounces).  If you do not like coconut, you could use regular milk that is sweetened with a little brown sugar, or you could use vanilla or almond soy milk to keep this recipe vegan!
4. Add in a can of vegetable broth (Approximately 16 ounces).
5. Add in 1 heaping teaspoon of curry powder.
6. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
7. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon.
8. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger.
9. Let all of this simmer over medium heat.

To Prepare the Croutons 
1. Slice 6 slices of wheat bread into thirds.  Be sure to use a vegan friendly bread if you are keeping this recipe vegan!
2. Place them on a baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sea salt.

4. Bake at 350 degrees in the oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crunchy!

Sweet Potato Spice Cupcakes with Coconut Curry Icing

For those of you that don't know, I will share two facts 1.) I am OBSESSED with curry, and 2.) I really hate baking from scratch unless it is for a holiday meal or Christmas cookies - too much chemistry involved.  Which brings us to these cupcakes!  I like embellishing on pre-boxed batters instead of making my own (watch your back Sandra Lee...I'm coming for you and your semi-homemade treats!).  In the past I have made a sweet potato dish where I cook down sliced sweet potatoes in coconut milk, red curry, and dark and golden raisins (recipe to follow closer to Thanksgiving).  I loved the combination, and though it would make a beyond yummy dessert.  Thankfully it did not disappoint!

Sweet Potato Spice Cupcakes with Coconut Curry Icing
Yields 1 dozen regular sized cupcakes

To Prepare the Batter
1. Peel 2 sweet potatoes and cut them down into cubes

2. Put in rapidly boiling water, but do not add anything to the water (i.e. salt)

3. When the sweet potatoes are soft enough to break with a fork drain them
4. Break the potatoes down.  You have several options here: 1.) A food mill.  Personally I am a HUGE fan of food mills.  You have the choice of pureeing, grating, or somewhere in between.  You do not have to peel veggies...their peels will stay in the upper part of the mill and never fall into what you are making.  The only downside is that it is a total pain in the butt to clean! 2.) Blender, Mixer, Food Processor, or Magic Bullet.  You will need to peel the potatoes, but you will still get a pureed effect, but might need to beat them for a little bit longer to make them smooth.  3.) Buy pre-pureed.  The only brand I could really find is called Farmer's Market, but I am fairly certain it is much easier to find around Thanksgiving and Christmas.  You could also go the route of buying canned yams or sweet potatoes and smashing them in their canned state.  4.) Fork or Hand Masher.  You have to put a little elbow grease into it, and they will never get down to a pureed state, but it will make your potatoes a little more rustic, and give a carrot cake like texture to your batter.  Today I went with method four!
5. Prepare your actual batter.  I chose Betty Crocker's Super Moist Spice Cake batter.  Follow the directions as usual EXCEPT for the addition of the water!  Instead of the box directions, add 1/4 cup of water and 1 1/2 cups of the sweet potatoes.  Be sure to mix it very well so everything is evenly incorporated!

6. Bake them according to the box's instructions.  I also put a cake pan of water in the oven.  It helps prevent burning around the base of the muffin/cupcake top!

To Prepare the Icing
1. Mix one 16 oz (standard size) container of vanilla icing with a cup of coconut flakes
2. Add 1 tablespoon of curry powder (found in the spice aisle) and mix EXTREMELY well...no one wants a mouth full of curry powder!  (I like to mix my icing the night before so it really has time to absorb all of the flavors.  Put it in a resealable container in the fridge.  Take it out the following day while you are preparing the cupcakes so it has enough time to soften.)

Icing the Cupcakes
1. Be sure to give your cupcakes plenty of time to cool so your icing does not melt off
2. I like to ice cupcakes using a zip-lock bag.  Spoon your icing into the bag and seal it shut after squeezing out the extra air.  Cut off a corner of the bag that is approximately a 1/2 inch long.  If you don't want to go this route, ice as you normally would.

3. Place the cut corner in the center of the cupcake and squeeze, but do not move the bag.  The icing will push itself out and make a delicious and billowy layer of icing.
4. When you are happy with the amount of icing on the cupcake, just stop squeezing and lift the bag straight up

My family and I LOVED these cupcakes!  The platter of 12 was almost gone with in 15 minutes!  The curry adds just enough heat to make you realize that there is more than coconut and spice cake to these cupcakes, and the bits of sweet potato broke up the intensity of the spice cake.  If you are not a fan of sweet potatoes, pumpkin would work just as nicely.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!