Squash Seed Candy

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Never, ever, will I ever throw out squash seeds again. These are from a butternut, and I decided to save and toast them while I was waiting for the main course to steam. I was alarmed, and then delighted, when they started to crack like popcorn in my toaster oven. They were good by themselves but I wanted to do something sweet with them, and stirred the toasted seeds into some caramelized sugar. There is an acorn squash sitting on my counter with more of these treasures inside, and next time I will probably do something different - there are gorgeous recipes for pumpkin seed brittle out there that looks like stained glass. Or I might prepare them like the candied nuts. This is my first attempt:

Spread seeds from one butternut in a single layer on a pan and toast in a medium oven until some of them begin to crack. Let seeds cool and, over medium high heat in a small pan, carmelize 1/4 cup demerara sugar until it is liquid and bubbly. Spread out a sheet of foil. Stir squash seeds into sugar and pour quickly onto foil. Cover with another layer of foil and carefully squish thin with a rolling pin as the foil is quite hot and the candy will harden very fast. Let cool, remove foil, and break into pieces. If you don't eat them right away you should keep them in an air tight container; they will soften and get tacky if you leave them out.

6 comments:

sra said...

How interesting and innovative! I don't know about squash seeds but a lot of gourd vegetables' seeds are dried and used ground to thicken curries in India!

Sara said...

Very clever! I have 2 squashes sitting on my counter right now. I don't know what kind they are, but I might try this out.

Pepper said...

Hi sra, that's fascinating. I'm reading a lot about Indian cooking right now.

Sara, you might find a better recipe out there, but it is great to use them somehow - they are really nutritious.

Sara said...

Pepper - I roasted some squash seeds on the weekend. They were SO good. And they did pop and scared the hell out of me, I had forgotten that you had said they would do that. Thanks again.

Pepper said...

The lovely and talented Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas also left a comment on this post, but blogger lost it. I am quietly cherishing it in my email. Brilynn, if you are visiting again please do not think I moderated out your comment.

Anonymous said...

We in India call this a "Chikki". Chikki can be made by carmalizing all kinds of nuts: peanuts, cashewnuts, pistachios and so on. There is a puffed rice chikki and also a semsame seed chikki.