I woke up this morning determined to create something wonderful with this little acorn squash that had been rolling around on my counter-top for the past few days.
After mixing up all of the ingredients, I had no idea that I had just created my new favorite Autumn treat. I’m serious! This dessert tastes remarkably like a chocolate pumpkin pie, or a pot de créme, or simply what it is: an awesome baked custard (no eggs or cream needed). And it’s so easy to make!
Creamy, rich, and chocolatey, I dare you to eat just one bite.
Chocolate Acorn Squash Baked Custard – Vegan and Gluten Free
makes two 4″ ramekin sized servings
Ingredients:
filling ingredients:
- 1 acorn squash, halved and roasted about 50 minutes- just until soft *
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup sorghum flour
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
topping:
- 1/3 cup pecans
- 1/2 tbsp vegan margarine
- 1/8 cup granulated vegan sugar
- 1 tbsp sorghum
- dash of salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 °F degrees, and lightly grease two 4″ ramekins.
Scoop roasted acorn squash from its skin and place into food processor. I am not quite sure of the exact amount of acorn squash I used, but I would guess it was about 2 cups. The squash was pretty standard sized, and roasted just enough so that I could mash it with a fork.
Puree squash in food processor until smooth. Add brown sugar, cocoa powder, sorghum flour, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract and sea salt. Pulse until all ingredients are well combined. Be sure to scrape the sides!
Spoon mixture into two ramekins (there may be a little left over) until the ramekins are about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full.
Rinse out food processor and dry thoroughly.
Place pecans, margarine, granulated sugar and sorghum flour into the food processor. Pulse until crumbly. Sprinkle topping onto filling and bake both custards for about 45-50 minutes.
When it’s finished cooking, you can either serve it hot… and it will have a taste/texture like an amazing chocolate pudding:
Or you can wait until after it has chilled and serve. It firms up and becomes one of the best things I have ever eaten:
* To roast squash, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place both halves cut side down onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Drizzle cookie sheet with about 2-3 tbsp water. Place in preheated oven (350 °F) for about 50 minutes, or just until fork tender. Let cool and use as directed in recipe.
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What a creative recipe! And very healthy for a dessert too. I will definitely be trying this one soon. :)
That looks like the perfect fall recipe!
Oh yum! This looks so scrumptious!
Clever! Looks delicious!
I’m gonna make this a.s.a.p.! Do you think I could use a different gluten free flour instead of sorghum? I happen to have tapioca flour and teff on hand. thoughts?
awesome! I think that the teff would be a better bet, since the tapioca may make it gummy…? :) It’s such a small amount, that hopefully it wouldn’t matter too much whether its sorghum, teff or another drier gf flour. Good luck!
Holy smoke– this recipe looks phenomenal! I think it will convert a few veg-skeptics this fall :)
Definitely gonna pick up an acorn squash at the farmers market and give it a try!
THis is so clever!! It looks perfect for a fall dessert!!!
This is so cool! Awesome recipe!
This is such a unique recipe! i love it.
I can see why this is a favorite–it looks awesome. Nothing like chocolate and pumpkin/squash/sweet potato! And you don’t have to dare me–I already know I would eat the whole thing (though maybe I’d scarf it all down in one BIG bite!) ;)
That looks fantastic!! I am just working on a thanksgiving menu (here in Canada, thanksgiving is this coming Monday) and this might have to be added to the dessert section.
-K
Looks super moist and yummy!
oh yeah. sign me up for some of this! looks so amaizing.
I do not know where you come up with these wonderful ideas, just glad you do. Especially right now as my tummy and I are having issues and I’ve scaled way back on my grains. I do believe I can manage this one though and it looks scrumptious.
By the way, I clicked on your Luscious Vegan Desserts link a few weeks ago and came up as a winner. I have a copy of “Sweet Utopia” in my hot little hands right now. I thought they were kidding when I received their e-mail last week but here it is big as life. What I love about vegan books is that instead of having to replace 3/4 of the ingredients it’s usually just the flour, which is pretty brainless, and the soy if it’s called for. So I’m encouraging others to use that pretty little link too; well, until your cookbook comes out anyway. Thanks for spreading the sunshine.
Wow Laurel! Congrats on the book win :) I really appreciate that about vegan books too- it almost seems TOO easy to de-glutenize some vegan recipes.. especially many of my own :) Thanks for the great note about your experience with Book Publishing Co; and, as always, for the wonderful compliments!
And… I know I will encourage everyone to check out as many cookbooks as possible – even when I get my own book out there. ;) Seriously, can one have enough great books about food?
Clever, sensational. Both.
YUM! I was craving chocolate tonight…wish I had acorn because I would making this right now.
That looks absolutely delicious! It’s the “down in the dumps” part of my day (3:00-ish), and I could really go for one of those!!
This looks beautiful!
That looks amazing and I bet it would be an impressive dessert to serve to friends.
Oh thankyouthankyou for the amazing recipe/idea. I made this yesterday. Subbed buckwheat for the sorghum because sorghum is hard to come by here in Germany, subbed a “Chameleon” squash for the same reason, used 4 oz of dark chocolate melted and added to the puree, since I didn’t have cocoa on hand, but did have the chocolate. Oh, and no ramekins, so I threw it all in a glass pie plate and baked it for 40 minutes. Oh dear. Soooo delicious. We’ve been picking on it since yesterday, and, well, now it’s gone. And there are only two of us. I will be making this again. I don’t do canned food, and can’t get it here anyway, but this would be a super-duper quick and easy recipe if one were to use canned pumpkin. And did I mention how good it is?
One, very small procedural point. I made the topping first and set it aside so I wouldn’t have to clean out my food processor before making the puree.
Thanks again!
Ah, thank you Kelly for such a wonderful comment! So good to know of the recipe’s versatility! :) Good tip on the topping too- you’re awesome!
I really want to try this recipe! I’d love to make it using butternut squash. Approximately how many cups of squash would I use? Acorn squashes can come in so many different sizes. Thanks!
hi Judy!
about 2 cups should do it :)
I finally, finally got my hands on an acorn squash, it baked up so pretty. Anyway as I was scooping it into the blender I got to thinking that I had two really old slices of whole gf raisin bread in my freezer. So I thought, thought I, why don’t you grind them up and use them in lieu of the sorghum flour? I mean, after all the recipe called for so little I figured (I was hoping really hard) I couldn’t mess up too badly, right? Right? It’s now out of the oven and tastes wonderful, all smooth and warm, oh yeah. I can’t wait for the leftovers to chill for tomorrow’s treat (if it lasts that long). Thanks so much and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
ooooh, how innovative Laurel! That’s so awesome it turned out well! I like the idea of raisins… mmmm.
Happy Halloween!!!
This was absolutely amazing… such a hit with my inlaws who couldn’t believe it was VEGAN! thank you!!!
awesome!! thank you!
Holy cow – this custard was phenomenal! I am not a vegan, but this recipe blew me away. I love how rich and chocolatey the dessert was, and it was surprising to know that it came from the acorn squash. I’ve linked back to you here: http://evabakes.blogspot.com/2012/11/chocolate-acorn-squash-baked-custard.html