A Little Cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate




The Pumpkin Moon Empanadas is now available on Amazon.com.
(Artwork courtesy of Sarah D. Thomas)

 

 "Papi, does the moon taste like cheese?"

The little girl walked hand in hand with her father. The harvest moon hung in the fall night sky.

"Who told you that?"
"Tía Lupita told me."
"It don't taste like cheese. It tastes like pumpkin.""How do you know, Papi?"
"Because when I was little like you, your abuelito—grandpa—took me there and we tasted it." 

"For reals?"

"For reals, mijita." He tightened his grip as they walked along.

He smiled as he looked down at his little daughter and said, "One day I'm going to bring you the moon, and you and your mamá will make pumpkin moon empanadas—the best you've ever had."

A few days later, he kept his promise, for he brought home a pumpkin that looked like Cenicienta's (Cinderella's) coach. Its orange luminosity glowed against the bright green of its stem. A kind of sparkly dust clung to it.

He called after her laughing. "Mira, mi'ja. Didn't I tell you that your papito would bring you the moon?"

¿Y de dónde agarraste esto?—And where did you get this? It's too beautiful. We can't eat it," her mother objected.

"Of course we will eat it. I went through a lot of trouble to get this pumpkin, and you are going to make us some empanadas.

Apúrate—hurry up, because tonight I'm going to eat some with you and la muñeca—the little doll."

So her mother cut up the pumpkin and roasted it in a hot oven until it was soft. Then she mashed it and let it hang in a bag of cloth until all the moisture was drained off. Her mother added cinnamon and spices with butter and piloncillo to the mashed pumpkin. The little girl watched as her mother rolled out the pastry dough, spooning up the dollops of pumpkin filling, and helped her fold the empanadas into crescent moon shapes.

Scene from The Pumpkin Moon Empanadas
(Artwork courtesy of Sarah D. Thomas)

The little family ate in silence. The empanadas tasted nothing like the empanadas they had ever had. They were bright and soft and flaky. The filling was delicate and flavorful, its sweet spicy aroma filling the small kitchen and wafting out of doors to other kitchens for miles around. People began to appear at their door begging for a taste, and before they knew it the empanadas were gone.

The following night it was dark, so dark that there was no moon to be seen. A harsh cold wind howled in from el norte. Gloom settled over the town, causing the townsfolk to wonder if Winter had come too early. "What will become of la cosecha—the harvest—and of us?" they asked.

Not long after, the little girl went outside to sit beneath her favorite tree and look! At its trunk sat a rare blue pumpkin, mottled grey and gigantic. It was strange and its odor was like nothing she had ever smelled. It sat there untouched, solitary and mysterious.

The rare blue pumpkin disappeared and in its place there appeared in the sky a huge orange moon that so reminded her of the pumpkin her father had brought home. Bright green stars began to shoot all over the expanse, lighting up the night sky until it felt like day.

"So it's true!"

The little muñeca is now an old woman, but she will never forget the day her papito brought down the moon just for her. Or how it tasted.

Pumpkin Empanadas

Empanadas de calabaza

Yes, this is a labor intensive recipe, but certainly worth the effort. You will find that empanadas or pumpkin pie made from scratch is more delicate tasting then ones made from a can.

Pumpkin Filling:

1 29 oz. can pumpkin puree (not filling); or, Fresh Roasted Pumpkin Puree (recipe to follow)

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon or less of salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel

Pastry:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons vegetable shortening

4 to 8 tablespoons ice-cold beer (or, ice-cold lemon-lime soda if making empanadas for kids)

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 egg, separated

1 teaspoon water

Fresh Roasted Pumpkin Puree Recipe:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cut one 8 to 10 lbs baking pumpkin into large pieces.  Remove seeds.  Place pieces skin-side down on a greased baking sheet, cover with aluminum foil and roast for 30 minutes to 1 hour , or until skin is easlily pierced with a fork.  If pumpkin is sogg, uncover and roast for about 10 minutes more.  Remove from oven and let cool away from little fingers.  Spoon out the pumpkin flesg abd whirl in a blender until smooth.  Puree should be moist but not at all soggy.  Save 3 1/2 cups.  Use instead of canned pumpkin puree for this or any other recipe.

Directions:

To make the filling:  In a medium saucepan, mix together the canned or fresh roasted pumpkin puree, butter, salt, grated orange peel, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, and nutmeg.  Adjust the spices and sugar to taste.  Cook uncovered over low heat for about 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  remove from heat and let cool.

To make the pastry:  On a hard flat surface, use a pastry cutter or a chopping knife to mix the flour, shortening, butter, salt and sugar.  The mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal.  Gradually add the 4 - 8 tablespoons of ice-cold lemon-lime soda until the dough comes together, but do not over-knead.  Let the dought rest in the refrigerator for about 1/2 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly beat the egg white in a small bowl.  Beat the egg yoke with 1 teaspoon water in another bowl.  Set both aside.  Roll out the pastry dough to 1/8 inch thick.  Place the open part of a small bowl or large drinking glass (about 4 inches in diameter) and press it into the pastry dough to create circles.  Remove the excess pastry dough.  In the middle of each circle put a tablespoon of pumpkin filling.  Brush some beaten egg white along the edge of each pastry circle.  Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges.  Keep working until all the pastry dough is used up.

Carefully lift the empanadas and place them on 2 parchment-covered cookie sheets.  Brush each empanada with the egg yoke mixture.  Poke a small hole in each empanada to let steam escape.

Bake the empanadas for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.  Once out of the oven, sprinkle the empanadas with a mixture of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Makes about 3 dozen small empanadas.

Tip:  To make large empanadas, use a dinner or a salad plate instead of a bowl to cut the pastry.  Use a generous amount of filling but don't overdo it--you don't want the filling to gush out.  Make 3 small slits to let steam escape.