MoFo #22: Creamy pumpkin caramel dip!

Well guys, I don't need* to finish out the next 9 days of MoFo.  I made the ultimate dip today.  THE ULTIMATE DIP.

Creamy pumpkin caramel dip.  Oooooh my goodness.



What is there to say about this?  It's creamy, it has pumpkin, it has caramel, and it's surprisingly airy and light tasting.  We ate it with apple slices but it would have been just as good with pear, firm persimmon, 'nilla wafers, pieces of mulch almost anything.  Here is the recipe:

Creamy pumpkin caramel dip
makes a big bowl of dip, maybe 3c?

1 can of pumpkin (or butternut squash), 16 oz not the mega can
1 can coconut milk, divided
1 tsp powdered ginger

1/3c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg (or less if you're not super in love with nutmeg, but I am)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

toasted walnuts (optional) for sprinkling on top

1.  In large bowl, combine the can of pumpkin, half the can of coconut milk, and the ginger.  Stir 'til smooth.

2.  Pour the second half can of coconut milk, the brown sugar, the vanilla, the nutmeg, the cinnamon, and the salt into a saucepan.  (I used a 3qt pan and had plenty of room.  As with any caramel sauce, you want to err on the too-large size for your pot.)  Whisk til smooth-ish.

3.  Turn heat on medium and let caramel sauce sit until it begins boiling.  Once it is at a rapid boil, whisk every 2 or 3 minutes until sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes.

4.  Taste caramel for seasoning.  (Note:  you can taste the pumpkin too, but it won't give you much info-- it tastes not supergreat on its own but will change a lot in the next section!)  Add a little more salt/spices/vanilla as necessary.

5.  Swirl caramel sauce into the pumpkin mixture.  (I used a butter knife to carve a spiral channel in the pumpkin mixture and then poured the caramel into that.)

Eat!

Nothing else to say about this except:  please someone else make this and tell me if it's as good as I think it is, or if I'm just going crazy from too many dips, ha ha.

 I need to get back to studying for my midterms, so here are pictures of the Emperor in his rain gear:



And the Magician and myself:



And that's that!


*don't need to, still going to!