Sankaya Fakthong (Pumpkin Custard)

With so many of you posting beautiful and inviting images of falling leaves, misty mornings and Halloween ideas it only seemed right that I jump on the pumpkin bandwagon and give my spin on the seasonal dessert (in traditional Thai style of course) with a sankaya (steamed custard pumpkin.
Pumpkins aren’t a popular food choice here in the UK, most are reserved for Halloween lanterns and those that are eaten are almost all destined to become savoury dishes- roasted and risotto’d. You lot in the USA definitely have the right idea using pumpkin in desserts and cakes and Thais seem equally happy to use them as a sweet ingredient too.
Just a quick note on pumpkins- Thailand’s main choice is the kabocha squash. I don’t recommend using a traditional orange halloween pumpkin as they’re too stringy and watery. I am lucky enough to have access to a fantastic food co-operative shop called Single Step where every year a motley selection of organic squashes and pumpkins emerge at this time.
For 4 portions (perhaps more!) use:

• a small edible pumpkin (fits comfortably into both hands) I used a gem squash
• 4 eggs
• 300ml of coconut milk
• 100g palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
• a small splash of vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt

Prepare your pumpkin/squash by cutting around the stalk in a small square and carefully prize out the stalk in one piece. Use a long spoon and spend a bit of time thoroughly cleaning out all the seeds and string inside the pumpkin. Once it’s empty- rinse it out under cold water to get rid of all the last bits then pat dry.
In a pan, gently heat the palm sugar and coconut milk, stirring lightly over a low heat until the sugar has fully dissolved. Add in the salt and vanilla extract then leave the mix to cool down fully.
in a separate bowl, beat the eggs and pour them into the coconut milk mix, blending thoroughly. Pour this mixture into the hollowed out pumpkin and set in steadily inside a steamer over boiling water. There will probably be some mixture left over- I steamed the rest in a ramekin dish.
Depending on your pumpkin’s size and thickness and the type of steamer you use, it will take between 45 mins and 75 mins to slowly soften the pumpkin and set the custard inside- don’t rush it and check it is done using a metal skewer- it needs to come out clean if the custard is set.
Use a large sharp knife to cut up the pumpkin into fat slivers.