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Freezing leftover squash is quick and easy. Just follow this step-by-step guide. We also reveal what you should consider when freezing pumpkin.

Before freezing: cut the pumpkin into pieces

Before you freeze the squash, you should break it up into small pieces. This way you can defrost it later in portions. All you need is a sharp knife and a cutting board.

To prepare the squash for freezing:
Halve the squash lengthwise.
Use a spoon to scoop out the soft insides and seeds.
Depending on the variety, you may need to remove the skin.
Halve the halves again lengthwise and cut into small pieces.

Freeze the pumpkin so it doesn’t stick together

If you freeze the squash straight away, the pieces may stick together afterwards. You can prevent this with the following trick:
Spread the pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet.
Place the tray in the freezer for a few hours.
You can then transfer the pre-frozen pumpkin pieces into freezer-safe containers.
Put the containers in the freezer.
It’s a good idea not to cook the squash before freezing, otherwise it will become mushy. Alternatively, you can boil the pumpkin, puree it and freeze it in the jar.

Depending on the variety, the pumpkin changes its consistency in the freezer. If you need extra crunchy pumpkin for a recipe, it’s better to use a fresh one. Since pumpkin can be stored well, you can buy it regionally until the end of winter.

Freeze squash as a soup

If you freeze the squash as a soup, the consistency does not change and you have a quick meal for cold winter evenings. It is best not to use any spices – you can add them to the warmed up soup if you like.

Tip: If you freeze the pumpkin soup in portions in glasses, you also have a healthy and quick lunch for work. Just take out the glass the night before and warm it up on your lunch break.

It is best to use up the entire pumpkin

Pumpkin is versatile: You can not only prepare it as a soup, but also as a smoothie, spread or any other pumpkin recipe. You don’t have to throw away the skin – depending on the type of pumpkin, you can eat it too. The cores don’t have to go in the trash either. You can roast the pumpkin seeds – this turns them into a delicious snack.

The nutmeg is a large and impressive pumpkin. In this article you will learn more about the nutmeg pumpkin, valuable tips for the preparation as well as many different recipe ideas.

Nutmeg is also known as Muscade de Provence or Musk Squash. The artistically ribbed shell shines in the typical autumn colors from dark green to orange to light brown.

Nutmeg pumpkin contains many valuable ingredients:
potassium
calcium
zinc and
Vitamins of groups A, C, D and E.
The aromatic pulp of the nutmeg pumpkin gets its color from the high proportion of beta-carotene. Carotene is good for healthy skin, strong hair and eyesight.

Nutmeg pumpkin – you should know that

The nutmeg squash belongs to the musk squash family and is closely related to the butternut squash. The flesh is orange-red and smells pleasantly spicy.

Nutmeg pumpkins have a diameter of up to 50 centimeters and can weigh up to 40 kilograms. The round, ribbed shape is striking. The skin is initially green and gradually turns light brown until fully ripe.

The nutmeg pumpkin originally comes from Central and South America. In Europe, he prefers warmer growing areas such as Italy or France. In Central Europe, the cultivation of nutmeg is not so productive due to the comparatively lower temperatures.

In Germany, the nutmeg pumpkin season begins in September. Nutmeg pumpkin tastes best when it is not yet fully ripe. You can tell by the color of the shell – it should still be dark green. The skin of fully ripe nutmeg squash turns orange to beige.

Ripe nutmeg has a soft skin and fewer seeds than most other types of squash. This creates less waste and you can process more pulp into delicious dishes.

Tip: If you tap the skin of the nutmeg with your knuckle, you should hear a hollow sound. Then the degree of maturity is optimal. If the squash sounds dull when you tap it, it has already started to spoil.

Tips for storing nutmeg squash

Whole nutmeg squashes remain edible for more than half a year when stored in a cool and dry place – for example in the cellar or in the cool pantry.

However, since the nutmeg pumpkin is very large and heavy, you will often find wedges that have been cut open and wrapped in plastic in the supermarket. Once cut, the nutmeg squash, which otherwise stores well, only stays fresh for three to four days in the refrigerator.

You can find unpackaged, organic nutmeg squash at local farmers’ markets and direct sellers. Buy locally grown nutmeg squash. Regional products have shorter transport routes behind them and are therefore better for the climate.

Attention: When buying, make sure that the skin of the nutmeg pumpkin is undamaged. Only then can it be stored longer.

Tip: extend the shelf life of cut nutmeg squash in the freezer. Freeze the diced nutmeg in batches. This allows you to prepare the pumpkin particularly quickly in the kitchen if necessary.

Peel nutmeg pumpkin: This is how it works

The skin of nutmeg is significantly thinner than that of many other types of pumpkin. However, you should peel the nutmeg squash, as the peel requires a significantly longer cooking time than the pumpkin flesh.

How to peel nutmeg pumpkin:
Use the indentations in the nutmeg squash and use a large knife to cut out wedges from the squash.
Remove the pips and the fibrous pulp around the pips with a spoon.
Using a sharp knife, thinly slice the skin off the pumpkin wedge.
You can then simply grate, slice or dice the pumpkin wedges as instructed in the recipe.

It’s starting again: Pumpkin season starts as early as August, the fruit is available almost everywhere from September and pumpkin season reaches its peak in October. However, the different varieties have different seasons – and they do not all store equally well…

Like so many other things, the pumpkin is not a German or European fruit: Seafarers brought the seeds of the pumpkin to Europe and it is now native to many gardens here – you can find tips on how to plant a pumpkin in the article. In addition to the increasing popularity of Halloween, the vegetarian-vegan cooking trend in particular is likely to have contributed to the pumpkin boom.

Ornamental pumpkins are used by many as decoration in autumn. Because of the sweet and at the same time nutty taste, it is also valued for rich, filling and yet not high-calorie pumpkin soups and for curry dishes. It is rich in vitamins, potassium, zinc and other nutrients, and the yellow varieties are also rich in carotene. But when is pumpkin actually in season?

When is pumpkin season?

The pumpkin likes it hot and sunny. The pumpkins are planted from the end of April to mid-May; from June it will be too late again. Pumpkins that are then planted will no longer come to fruition.

The pumpkin season starts at the end of July at the earliest, typically at the end of late summer in August.
Pumpkin season peaks in the fall months of September and October and lasts until frost.

The fact that pumpkin seeds are so healthy is due to their valuable ingredients: They are not only a good source of vegetable protein, but also contain important vitamins and minerals. We give you an overview.

Pumpkin seeds are a regional superfood: You get them from local cultivation and they are full of valuable ingredients that promote your health. In this article you will find out what it is about in detail and what also makes the kernels healthy.

Nutritional values ​​of healthy pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin seeds have many important nutrients to offer the body. Here you can find an overview of the nutritional values ​​of the healthy seeds.

Nutritional values ​​per 100 grams:

Calories: 547 kcal
Carbohydrates: 14.7 g
of which sugar: 1.3 g
Fiber: 6.5 g
Fat: 49g
Protein: 29.8 g

Pumpkin seeds can be a healthy source of protein, especially for people who eat a purely plant-based diet. Like other seeds and nuts, pumpkin seeds are also very nutrient dense. Therefore, you should not eat too many of them, even if they are healthy and delicious. The vegan food pyramid recommends consuming between 30 and 60 grams of nuts and seeds every day.

Pumpkin seeds have many important nutrients to offer the body. Here you can find them

Nutritional values ​​per 100 grams:
Calories: 547 kcal
Carbohydrates: 14.7 g
of which sugar: 1.3 g
Fiber: 6.5 g
Fat: 49g
Protein: 29.8 g

Pumpkin seeds can be a healthy source of protein, especially for people who eat a purely plant-based diet. Like other seeds and nuts, pumpkin seeds are also very nutrient dense. Therefore, you should not eat too many of them, even if they are healthy and delicious. The vegan food pyramid recommends consuming between 30 and 60 grams of nuts and seeds every day.

This is what makes pumpkin seeds so healthy

But pumpkin seeds are not only convincing because of their macronutrients – they are particularly healthy thanks to their valuable micronutrients.

beta carotene
B group vitamins
vitamin C
vitamin E
sodium
potassium
iron
copper
zinc
magnesium

The micronutrients contained in pumpkin seeds are important for your muscles, help with recovery after exercise, keep your bones strong and your heart healthy.

Other benefits of healthy pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin seeds also provide other health benefits that are also scientifically proven.
Pumpkin seeds are rich in antioxidants. These support your body in cell renewal, fight free radicals and reduce oxidative stress.
In addition, pumpkin seeds have antimicrobial properties and thus support your immune system.
They also promote heart health and have a positive effect on blood lipid levels.
Pumpkin seeds contain so-called phytosterols. The substance has a similar effect to the male hormone testosterone and can have a supportive effect on mild prostate problems.

Many pumpkin dishes are part of the autumn season. But did you know that you can also eat pumpkin raw?
Pumpkin soup or pumpkin puree are classics, but if you’re looking for more variety, you can also eat pumpkin raw. You can eat many types of pumpkin uncooked without worry, but to be on the safe side, you should still follow a few tips before doing so.

Eating pumpkin raw: when is it safe?

There is a rule of thumb when eating raw pumpkins: edible pumpkins are good raw vegetables, but you should stay away from ornamental pumpkins! Because ornamental gourds contain the bitter substance curcurbitacin, which is toxic even in small amounts and can cause nausea and tachycardia, according to the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE). The best way to recognize a decorative pumpkin is that it is much smaller than its grocery store relatives and often a much more striking color and shape. It is also marked as such in the store.

On the other hand, you can eat almost all types of pumpkin available in the supermarket raw without hesitation. According to the BZfE, the toxic curcurbitacin was mostly bred from them by the producers. The following pumpkins taste best in raw recipes:

nutmeg squash
Butternut Squash
Hokkaido pumpkin

Already knew? You can not only eat pumpkin from the shops raw, but sometimes also with the skin! For example, you can save yourself the trouble of peeling the Hokkaido pumpkin before processing it.

Better not to eat pumpkin from the garden raw

While growing your own pumpkins in the garden is a good idea, it’s best not to eat your harvest raw. Because even if you use seeds from which a pumpkin should actually grow, so-called reverse mutations can cause poisonous cucurbitacins to form again in the pumpkin. This crossbreeding is particularly dangerous because you often cannot tell with the naked eye whether the bred pumpkin is poisonous or not.

Incidentally, such a mutation can also occur if you use your own seeds from the previous year. Even with tested organic seeds, there is a risk that your pumpkin will crossbreed with a poisonous ornamental pumpkin that may be growing in your neighbor’s garden. That’s why it’s best to play it safe and only eat pumpkin raw if you bought it from a store.

Eating raw pumpkin: This is how you do the taste test!

A certain residual risk also remains with purchased pumpkins. Before you can safely eat pumpkin raw, you should always do a taste test. In general, only use pumpkins that you bought in a grocery store.

This is how the taste test works with raw pumpkin:

First cut off a small piece of the raw pumpkin. Refrain from seasoning the pumpkin, otherwise you will no longer be able to perceive the pure taste.
Now put the piece of pumpkin in your mouth and see if you notice a bitter taste.
Don’t swallow the gourd, instead spit it out after the test.
If the pumpkin tastes bitter, it may contain harmful bitter substances.
In this case, do not eat the pumpkin raw and do not cook it either! It is better if you dispose of the pumpkin on the compost to be on the safe side.

If you want to cut a pumpkin, it is often difficult because of the hard skin. We’ll show you a simple trick that will make cutting the pumpkin much easier.

Pumpkin is a versatile vegetable that you can buy locally grown between August and December, when pumpkins are in season. You can eat the skin of many types of squash and don’t have to throw it away. However, it is a bit hard, making the squash difficult to cut. The skin only softens when it is cooked. For most recipes, however, you will need to cut the squash into small pieces or slices before cooking. For example:

Cut pumpkin into pieces for: pumpkin soup, pumpkin spread and pumpkin pasta
Slice the pumpkin for: Tarte flambée with pumpkin
We’ll show you a trick on how to cut the peel more easily.

Cutting the pumpkin: The cooking pot trick

If the pumpkin skin is very robust or the knife is no longer very sharp, it will be difficult to cut a pumpkin. But a simple trick helps to make it easier:

First wash the pumpkin thoroughly.
Then place the squash in a pot filled with water. The water should come up a little to halfway up the squash.
Let the water simmer for about five minutes.
After that, the squash will be much softer and easier to cut.

Dice the pumpkin

You can then cut the pumpkin into cubes or slices. Both are possible with this guide:

1. Halve the pumpkin. To do this, place the knife on the stalk of the pumpkin and divide the pumpkin once.
2. Now the pumpkin with the pulp is open. For most recipes you will now have to hollow out the pumpkin. This is easy to do with a spoon. In addition, you should usually remove the cores. You don’t have to throw them away, you can roast the pumpkin seeds. They’re a tasty snack.
3. To cut the pumpkin into cubes or slices, place the pumpkin half with the open side on a wooden board. Then cut the pumpkin into slices one to two centimeters thick. If you are right-handed, start at the end of the pumpkin that is to the right of the stalk.

Note: If you want to use the pumpkin in slices (for example, to cover a tarte flambée or a pizza), cut the slices only a few millimeters thick.

4. Now place several pumpkin slices on top of each other and cut off individual cubes.

Note: Be sure to separate the stalk from the pumpkin piece as well.

5. Now you can carry out steps 3 and 4 for the other half of the pumpkin and then process the pumpkin further.

Pumpkin Spice Latte is a popular hot drink, especially in the fall. We’ll show you how easy it is to prepare your own Pumpkin Spice Latte.

In order to drink Pumpkin Spice Latte, you don’t have to go to a joint of controversial multinationals like Starbucks. In this article we will show you how you can make the popular hot drink yourself.

Making Pumpkin Spice Latte yourself has many advantages:

You decide for yourself which ingredients you use.
There is less waste from disposable cups.
You can use less sugar.
you save money
Tip: You can prepare the Pumpkin Spice Latte particularly quickly if you have Pumpkin Spice and pumpkin puree in stock.

Pumpkin Spice

Mix all of the spices together according to the instructions in the Pumpkin Spice: Spice Blend Recipe article. Store the autumnal spice in tightly closed jars in a dark, cool and dry place.

pumpkin puree

You can also easily make the pumpkin puree for your Pumpkin Spice Latte yourself. In the article Fine pumpkin puree: How to make it yourself, you will find out how it works. Keep the fresh pumpkin puree tightly closed in the refrigerator. Stored cold, it stays fresh for up to five days. Alternatively, you can freeze it in small portions. Tip: Use ice cube trays to freeze, as you only need a tablespoon of pumpkin puree to make one serving of Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Pumpkin Spice Latte: The Recipe

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon nectar
1 tbsp Pumpkin Spice
1hot espresso
150 ml milk or foamable plant drink
1 tablespoon pumpkin puree

Directions:

Place 1 teaspoon of agave nectar in a small bowl. Note: If you like your Pumpkin Spice Latte unsweetened, you can omit the agave syrup.
Mix the Pumpkin Spice well with the agave syrup until you get a smooth spice syrup.
Prepare the espresso.
Warm the milk and froth it.
Mix the frothed milk with the espresso, the spice syrup and the pumpkin puree.
Pour your Pumpkin Spice Latte into a coffee mug and decorate with a dollop of frothed milk.
Sprinkle the milk foam with a touch of Pumpkin Spice and enjoy the autumnal hot drink.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Spice Latte: You should know that

Whenever possible, purchase high-quality, organic spices when preparing Pumpkin Spice Latte. You can find useful tips for this in the article: Buy organic spices: the most important brands and online shops. Since all four spices are exotic ingredients from Asia, Africa or South America, you should also look out for a fair trade seal. You are committed to fair wages, good working conditions and environmental protection in the growing countries.

Coffee, too, has a long journey behind it before it reaches the supermarket shelves in Germany. Therefore, buy fair trade coffee whenever possible. Or would you like to try one of the regional coffee alternatives instead? Regional food has shorter transport routes and therefore leaves a smaller CO2 footprint.

Tip: If you don’t have an espresso machine or pot, you can also brew a strong filter coffee.

You can also prepare your Pumpkin Spice Latte vegan by using a foamable plant-based milk as a milk substitute. As a local alternative to agave syrup, you can use a teaspoon of honey.

The bishop’s cap is a type of pumpkin that is best known for its unusual shape. You can find out more about the characteristics of the special vegetable variety in this article.

Bishop’s cap: ornamental pumpkin with taste

The pumpkin owes its name “bishop’s hat” to its special shape: it is round and flat at the bottom. At the top is a smaller part that sits on top of the rest of the pumpkin like a cap. Most of the bishop’s hat is colored orange and crossed by a yellow-green pattern. That is why this variety has made a name for itself primarily as an ornamental pumpkin.

While most ornamental gourds are inedible, bishop’s caps can also be used in the kitchen. It has a sweetish-nutty taste and a relatively floury consistency. Only the shell and the upper part of the “cap” cannot be eaten. You can therefore simply peel the pumpkin and then bake, boil, steam or fry it in a pan.

Alternatively, you can hollow out the bishop’s cap pumpkin beforehand and cook it whole in the oven. You can use the pulp for a pumpkin soup recipe, for example, and then serve the soup decoratively in the baked pumpkin.

In addition to soups and stews, the bishop’s cap is also suitable as an ingredient for salads and casseroles or as a side dish, for example in the form of baked pumpkin wedges or pumpkin puree. Spices and herbs that go particularly well with the flavor of the pumpkin variety include garlic, thyme or curry powder.

Plant your own pumpkin

If you want to plant the bishop’s cap in your own garden, it’s best to get a young plant from a specialist retailer. You should then note the following:

Grow your own bishop’s cap pumpkin:

The pumpkin needs a warm and preferably sunny location.
The soil should be humic, nutrient-rich, permeable and well loosened.
You can plant young plants outdoors from mid-May. Alternatively, you can also grow the bishop’s hat from seeds. You sow these directly outdoors from May or prefer them indoors from mid-April.
How to plant bishop’s hats:

Before you plant the pumpkin plant, you should loosen the soil well and add some compost as a starter fertilizer.
Then first place the young plant in a container with water so that the root ball can soak up moisture.
Then put the bishop’s cap in a sufficiently large planting hole, press the soil firmly again and water the area generously.
If you want to grow several pumpkin plants, you should make sure that there is a distance of about one meter between the plants.
Care of the bishop’s cap:

The bishop’s cap is an easy-care pumpkin: it is sufficient to water it regularly and to provide it with some organic fertilizer about every two weeks. Here you can find out how you can easily produce biodegradable fertilizer yourself: Fertilizer for plants: make it yourself naturally.
To prevent pests (especially slugs), you can sprinkle some coffee grounds around the plant or build a barrier around the squash using natural materials (like wood shavings).
You can already harvest the first ripe pumpkins in late summer or early autumn of the first year of cultivation.

Recipe: Stuffed Bishop’s Hat

A bishop’s cap filled with rice and vegetables from the oven is a warming and filling dish, especially in autumn and winter. When buying the ingredients, make sure they are organic if possible to avoid synthetic pesticides. You can get the bishop’s cap pumpkin from German cultivation from September to January. You can also buy mushrooms, carrots and onions regionally almost continuously during this period.

Ingredients:

1bishop’s hat
5 tablespoons rapeseed oil
Salt pepper
2 teaspoons Ras el Hanout
100 g wholegrain rice
1 onion
2 clove(s) garlic
2 medium carrots
150 gmushrooms
2 tbsp tomato paste
150 ml vegetable broth

Directions:

Cut off the cap of the bishop’s hat.
Use a spoon to scoop out most of the flesh, leaving the edge of the squash only about an inch wide. Set aside the pulp of the bishop’s hat for later use.
Brush the inside of the pumpkin with about two tablespoons of rapeseed oil and sprinkle with some salt and ras el hanout.
Now put the hollowed-out bishop’s cap pumpkin in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius top and bottom heat for about 30 minutes.
Cook the rice according to package directions in a little salted water. Depending on the type of rice, this takes about 20 to 30 minutes.
Cut the onion and garlic into small cubes and sauté them in the remaining rapeseed oil in a pan.
Cut the carrots into small cubes and add them to the other ingredients in the pan. Allow the mixture to cook over medium-high heat for about five minutes.
Chop the mushrooms into slices and also cut the pumpkin pulp into small pieces. Add both ingredients to the pan and let the vegetables sauté for another five minutes.
Now add the tomato paste and the rice and fry everything for another three to four minutes.
Season with salt, pepper and ras el hanout.
Pour the mixture of rice, vegetables and bishop’s cap into the squash and pour over the vegetable broth. Then put the bishop’s cap back on.
The filled pumpkin is now put in the oven for another 20 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. After half the time you can remove the lid again.

Cozy afternoons can be perfectly enjoyed with a Pumpkin Spice Latte. We explain why pumpkin coffee is so popular, where it comes from and how you can easily make it yourself.

What is a Pumpkin Spice Latte?

A Pumpkin Spice Latte is a coffee variation that is essentially made with espresso or strong coffee, pumpkin puree, spices and milk froth. Depending on the season, mainly autumnal spices such as cinnamon or cloves are used.

The drink was made famous by the American coffee chain Starbucks, which offers the drink in its branches every year around Halloween. The first Pumpkin Spice Latte went over the counter in January 2003. At that time, the company tried to extend the Christmas season with the drink by launching a hot drink with Christmas spices.

Since the drink was very well received by customers, but the pumpkin season generally begins in autumn, the decision was subsequently made to sell the pumpkin coffee in the branches as early as September. Since then, the Pumpkin Spice Latte has developed into a real cult drink that is so popular that Starbucks was already offering the drink in selected branches in mid-August.

This is how the Pumpkin Spice Latte works

If you are looking for a pumpkin and coffee recipe to take home, you’ve come to the right place. The recipe is quite simple, but requires some preparation if you want to make all the ingredients yourself.

List of ingredients for about 0.4 l Pumpkin Spice Latte:

1-2 tbsp fine pumpkin puree
1 tsp Pumpkin Spice spice mix
2 tbsp agave syrup
Milk/milk alternative for milk froth
espresso
Options:
Coffee syrup for refining or sweetening, such as vanilla or caramel

Step 1: Prepare the pumpkin puree

In the USA you can get the ready-made pumpkin puree in almost every supermarket. In Germany you can occasionally find the puree at the weekly market or in some delicatessens. You can also easily prepare pumpkin puree yourself in just three steps:
cut pumpkin
Cut a Hokkaido pumpkin into four equal parts and remove the seeds.
Cook Pumpkin
Put the pieces, including the peel, in boiling water and leave them there for around 15 to 20 minutes.
puree
Using a hand blender, mash the soft pumpkin pieces into a puree.
Storage Tip: You’ll probably need a lot less puree than you get from a whole squash. But that doesn’t matter. If you pack the puree airtight, it will keep in the fridge for about a week for further processing. Of course, you can also plan ahead and store the finished puree in the freezer.

Step 2: Preparation of the spice mixture

The listed ingredients for our pumpkin recipe can be found in almost every supermarket or easily ordered online. You can also make the spice mixture yourself and create your own individual taste. Depending on your preference, you can change the proportion accordingly. To make it, simply mix the following ground ingredients together:
3 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp nutmeg
1.5 tsp allspice
1 tsp cloves

Step 3: Prepare Pumpkin Spice Latte

Now the ingredients for the pumpkin coffee can finally be mixed together:
Pour pumpkin puree into a glass
Prepare a large glass and fill it with 1-2 tablespoons of fine pumpkin puree. To get it particularly fine, you can scrape it through a sieve into the glass again.
mix ingredients
Take a small bowl and mix 1 teaspoon of the spice mixture with the 2 tablespoons of agave syrup. Then spread the mixture over the pumpkin puree.
Add milk froth
In the next step you need milk foam. You can open it yourself or get it quickly and easily from a fully automatic coffee machine. Then add the milk froth to the glass.
Add espresso
Now it is important to make a particularly strong espresso. This is only possible with the help of a fully automatic machine or portafilter. A strong coffee can be made with an espresso maker, for example. Now pour the espresso into the glass very slowly so that the individual layers do not mix with each other. This creates a great visual effect when serving.
Stir
The Pumpkin Spice Latte is ready and ready to be enjoyed. Just before drinking, you should stir the drink well with a long-handled spoon so that all the ingredients mix together and the typical pumpkin taste can unfold.
Optional: Add syrup and cream
If you would like to refine your pumpkin coffee, you can optionally add cream to the PSL as a topping or add coffee syrup instead of agave syrup.

Vegan Pumpkin Coffee

For the vegan variant of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, you can also easily become a milk alternative. Soy milk or oat milk are best suited for frothing. Rice, coconut, almond or spelled milk are less suitable. After all, the milk froth is an essential part of the pumpkin latte. But in the end it’s a matter of taste.

Pumpkin Spice Latte without coffee – the version for children

For people who don’t want to drink coffee, malt coffee is an alternative preparation option. It’s actually not real coffee, since it’s made from grain, but the taste is similar and the pumpkin malt coffee is also very tasty. So that it doesn’t get too sweet, you can also do without the agave syrup and use honey instead.

How many calories does a Pumpkin Spice Latte have?

You may have guessed it: Starbucks finished PSL is anything but a diet drink. A 12 ounce Tall cup contains approximately 300 calories. The calories of the Pumpkin Spice Latte are divided into about 10 g of fat and 40 g of sugar, which corresponds to about 10 sugar cubes. This increases the daily energy requirement. If you prepare the coffee with pumpkin puree at home, you can of course control the addition of sugar and fat. This delicious and homemade alternative is not quite as impressive. A glass (250 ml) with fine puree and 1.5% milk has approx. 135 Kcal.

Pumpkin is delicious, healthy, often locally grown and always versatile. The processing can be exhausting because the shell is hard. But: With some varieties, you can simply eat the pumpkin skin as well – we’ll show you when to peel the pumpkin – and how.

For most varieties of autumn fruit, pumpkin season in Germany is from the end of August or the beginning of September to November. Since almost all species can be stored well, you can often still get home-grown produce well into spring – you can find all the details in the Utopia seasonal calendar.

Many peel the vegetables and also hollow them out. It’s a shame about the beautiful skin, because you can also eat it with edible pumpkins!

Can you eat pumpkin with skin?

In principle, you can eat almost any pumpkin with its skin on. But since the skin is often very hard, it takes much longer to cook than the flesh until it softens. Therefore, with some varieties and preparation methods, it may be advisable to peel the pumpkin. We have put together an overview of the individual pumpkin varieties for you.

Hokkaido

The Hokkaido is our most popular representative, you can get it in every supermarket. It is round, medium-sized, grooved and bright orange on the outside and inside. There is no need to peel a Hokkaido squash: the squash skin is safe to eat.

It doesn’t matter whether the Hokkaido is baked in the oven, made into a soup or fried: the skin can remain on and, according to some (hobby) cooks, even gives a better aroma than without the skin. But if you want to grate the Hokkaido to make vegetable pancakes or potato pancakes, you should peel the Hokkaido pumpkin, because the roasting time here may not be long enough for the skin to soften.

Butternut

The butternut is also very popular. Quite different from the Hokkaido, it has a pale yellowish smooth skin and is pear-shaped, its flesh is light orange, and it has a subtle buttery flavor. The butternut squash has a very thin but quite hard skin.

Peeling butternut is easy with a potato peeler. Whether it is really necessary or whether you can eat the pumpkin with the skin depends on the recipe. Basically, the butternut shell is edible – but it takes a relatively long time to soften.

If you want to roast the butternut squash in the oven, you can try it with the skin on. Even if you want to cook and puree the butternut for a soup until soft, you don’t necessarily have to peel it. But if you’re just sautéing it for a stir-fry, for example, it’s easier to peel it.

If you don’t want to throw away the peel, you can easily use it to make a delicious vegetable dish: Simply chop, fry or cook until soft – for example with onions, spices and coconut milk.

Basically you can eat butternut with shell. It is only advisable to peel the pumpkin for preparation methods in which it only cooks for a short time.

There is a delicious vegetarian butternut recipe for pasta on the minzgrün blog, you can find one for oven-baked butternut, for example, at Fleckenwohl. There are more recipes with butternut at eatsmarter.de. Here you will find a recipe for pumpkin jam and pumpkin chutney.

Nutmeg squash

The nutmeg squash is round but rather flat, grooved on the outside and usually larger than the Hokkaido or butternut – it can weigh up to 40 kilograms. The skin is green, brownish or orange and the flesh is yellow to orange. Nutmeg has a hard and rather thick skin.

In theory, you can eat the pumpkin with the skin on. However, the skin takes a relatively long time to soften during cooking, so depending on the dish, it may be advisable to peel the nutmeg pumpkin. If it is cooking for a long time (e.g. in the oven or for soup), you can leave the shell on, with shorter cooking times it is better to peel the nutmeg.

To peel the pumpkin or not: other varieties

Although there are actually hundreds of different types of pumpkin, we know two types in particular: Hokkaido and Butternut, and more rarely the larger nutmeg pumpkin. These three varieties alone are versatile and tasty.
But at weekly markets, in well-stocked vegetable and organic shops or at self-service stands on the side of the road, you can find many more pumpkin varieties that you should definitely try. The same applies here: you don’t have to peel many of them.

Patisson:
Small (approx. 10-25 cm in diameter), its shape is reminiscent of a UFO. It is available in yellow, white, green and even two-tone. The Patisson does not keep as long as other varieties. You don’t have to peel it: you can eat this variety well with the skin, very small specimens even in one piece and raw. Patisson is also very suitable for filling and cooking in the oven.

bishop’s cap:
Medium-sized, round, rather flat representative with a cap-like “attachment”, also known as a Turkish turban. Should not be eaten with the skin on. Because of the shape, it is difficult to cut the flesh out of the squash, so it is often cooked hollowed out and filled.

Spaghetti Squash:
Elongated, rather small, with a beige to yellow skin and threadlike flesh. Cook the spaghetti squash whole (pierce the skin first!). You can then cut it in half and pull out the “spaghetti” or just spoon them out of the bowl. We have more delicious spaghetti squash recipe ideas for you.

Yellow hundredweight (giant hundredweight):
Round giant pumpkin with orange skin and yellow flesh that can weigh up to 50 kilograms. Good for desserts – and hollowing and carving for Halloween. Theoretically edible with pumpkin skin, but it is quite hard and is therefore usually removed.

Baby Bear:
Small, round (approx. 10 cm in diameter), with a dark orange, ridged skin and yellow flesh. Good for soups and desserts. The skin is very hard, so it’s better to peel this pumpkin – or scoop out the flesh.

buttercup:
Rather small, round fruit vegetable with a small cap-like top, dark green skin and orange flesh. The skin is very hard, so it’s easier to eat it without the skin, but peeling the squash isn’t always easy. Good for stuffing, casseroles or baking.