Thai pumpkin custard is a great dessert for Fall. A silky smooth coconut milk based custard is steamed directly in a small kabocha squash, setting the custard while cooking the pumpkin.
Prepare the Pumpkin: Wash your pumpkin thoroughly. Cut a circular opening in the top. It may help to use a glass or small bowl to mark the circle and then use a very sharp knife to cut it out. Scoop out all of the pumpkin insides and rinse to ensure it's clean and smooth inside. Turn the pumpkin upside down on a towel to drip dry.
Make the Custard: Mix the palm sugar, coconut milk, salt, and vanilla extract over medium heat until the palm sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and cool back to room temperature. Add your eggs to the the coconut milk mixture and mix well to form the custard.
Pour Custard into Pumpkin: Pour the custard into your hollowed out pumpkin, just to the bottom of the circular opening. If there is leftover custard, see Note below.
Steam the Pumpkin Custard: Add water to the bottom of a steamer pot and heat on medium high. Place the pumpkin filled with custard in the top of the steamer. Leave the pumpkin open at the top. If you would like to steam the pumpkin top, set it next to the pumpkin in the steamer pot. Let the pumpkin steam for 45 minutes untouched. Once it's done, allow to cool completely. If the custard overflowed the pumpkin, just skim the top off. Then slice into individual pieces and enjoy!
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Notes
If you have additional custard left over (and I usually do), pour into a shallow dish, top with slices of pumpkin, and steam alongside the whole pumpkin custard. Once it's done, slice into 1"x2" pieces for a little bit of a different pumpkin custard dessert. It's more custard-y and less pumpkin-y, but also absolutely delicious!