I live near an empanada haven of sorts. Within a few blocks are three different empanada shops – and an Argentine gelato place. I’m not entirely sure why we’ve become the hot bed of these delicious pastries but I’m happy about it. Not long ago a friend and I decided to do an empanada crawl and hit them all, tasting and comparing. The first, a little grocery store that’s been in the neighborhood forever, sells hot empanadas from a case by the register. On our crawl night, they had a seasonal pumpkin version that was so good I went back and got two more. The pumpkin was caramelized in deep, dark, sweet chunks, almost candied, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
I haven’t been overly inspired to make a lot of personal projects lately but spying fat little pie pumpkins in the stores reminded me of those empanadas. Why not give it a shot? This time of year is so overrun with mediocre-to-bad pumpkin spice things, why not make something good?
I scrolled back through my instagram posts to find my comments about that crawl and take another look at the picture for some clues and to jolt some memories. As I remembered, the pumpkin chunks inside the empanada were darkly caramelized, almost candied. There’s a Mexican dish, Calabaza en Tacha, where pumpkin is slowly cooked in a sugar syrup to a sort of candied state, so I that’s where I started. Traditionally piloncillo, an unrefined Mexican cane sugar, is used but I’ve never quite warmed to the flavor so I used a combination of brown and white sugar, some fresh orange juice and zest, a few cinnamon sticks, star anise and whole cloves.
The pumpkin was seeded and cut into chunks with the skin on. It may seem odd to leave the skin on but I’ve learned from experience that it helps the pumpkin hold its shape during cooking and is easily peeled off later. (In fact, those candied skins are delicious and I snacked on them all day with no shame.) After about 2 hours of slowly simmering in this syrup with the lid on, askew and then off, the flesh turns dark, fragrant and slightly candied. Exactly what I was going for. It also was the best smelling holiday potpourri. My house – and the building hallway – smelled amazing all day as a result.
I used a lard based empanada dough, one I’ve used frequently, and made a batch. Terrible. The pumpkin was great but the dough was all wrong, meant for a more savory filling. I wanted something a bit more tender and flaky and this just was not it. I was annoyed I’d used all my beautiful pumpkin. There’s a lesson here. When you’re not sure, make two to start. I was especially annoyed when I went to six different stores looking for another pie pumpkin and couldn’t find one. What the hell? They were everywhere last week and now it’s the week before Thanksgiving and you’re telling me no one has that inexplicable urge to make a pumpkin pie from absolute scratch (pro tip: don’t.) I was baffled and frustrated but as these things do, it made me think beyond my parameters and adapt.
One of those six stops was a Mexican produce store, thinking they might have the right pumpkin. They didn’t but they did have big chunks of plastic wrapped Mexican pumpkin/squash known as calabaza. I threw it in the bag. Hell, I’ll give anything a shot. I eventually found a pumpkin at Whole Foods, because of course they had one, so I decided to try both and compare. I’m glad I did.
I cooked both pumpkins exactly the same, in separate pots, and I liked both very much. The pie pumpkin was firmer, cut into nice little cubes that held their shape during baking and had a mellower spiced pumpkin flavor. The calabaza cooked up much softer and I was very glad I left the skin on or it would have created a big (probably delicious) sweet mush in the pot. The flesh was silkier, the sugar/spice flavor seemed to permeate throughout a little better than the pie pumpkin and it was a pretty, bright vivid orange. You can’t go wrong with either and it may come down to what you find. I haven’t done it but I suspect other squashes would probably work too – things like butternut, red kuri or turban. Second time around, I made a cream cheese pastry dough and formed only four this time, two of each filling. These were exactly what I was hoping for: a tender yet flaky dough encasing a sweetly spiced pumpkin filling. Hallelujah.
Looking back at my photos of those shop empanadas, I was reminded that they were dipped or drizzled in some sort of sugar syrup. If you’re serving right away and have a lot of napkins handy, maybe take some of that extra syrup and drizzle over the warm empanadas. That syrup would also be wonderful stirred into a glass of sparking water and I know it would be awesome with bourbon. I’m not ashamed to admit I ate the candied orange peel while still warm, then plucked out the spices and poured the remaining syrup into a container to make something delicious and boozy later.
STRESS BAKING FACTOR: PERFECT. C’mon. Futzy little dough projects like this make me happier like no other. Rolling and crimping, sculpting and manipulating pastry dough into pretty, delicious little shapes is my form of therapy. Looking at pretty little rows of golden brown pastries bring me peace in these chaotic times. So there.
Other pumpkin things: Classic Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Bundt Cake, Creamy Steel Cut Oats with Roasted Pumpkin and Pumpkinseed Crumble, Pumpkin Spice Granola, Pumpkin Roulade, Pumpkin Hummus, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread
ten years ago: Lamb & Ale Stew, Cider Donuts,
nine years ago: Classic Wedge Salad with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing, French Apple Tart
eight years ago: Maple Buttermilk Spoonbread with Glazed Pears, Salted Caramel Apple Pie
seven years ago: Kale & Squash Salad
six years ago: Sunday Lunch Ramen, Maple Bourbon Carrots
five years ago: Roasted Delicata Squash – 4 Ways, Baked Brie with Savory Fig Jam
four years ago: Shaved Mushroom and Fennel Salad, Simple Apple Tarts, Maple Mustard Glazed Delicata, Brussels Sprouts & Shallots, Spicy Seeded Parmesan Straws
three years ago: Chicken Wing Friday – Green Curry Chicken Wings, French Apple Pie, Cranberry Crumble Tart
two years ago: Chunky Applesauce Cake, Gjelina Style Roasted Beets with Spiced Lentils, Crispy Squash Sandwich, Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
last year: Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip, Antipasto Squares
CANDIED PUMPKIN EMPANADAS
Makes about 1 ½ dozen, maybe a few more, with a 4¼” round cutter
For the spiced sugar topping I kept it simple with cinnamon but you can use pumpkin spice or Chinese five spice or just plain sugar if you like. Pro tip: zest the orange before juicing. Seems obvious until you do it the other way around and wonder where you left your brain. If you have extra pumpkin, it is particularly good over plain yogurt.
for the spiced candied pumpkin:
1 sugar or pie pumpkin (about 2 ½ pounds)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 cups water
zest of 1 orange, cut with a vegetable peeler into long strips
juice of 1 orange (about 1/3 cup)
2 whole cinnamon sticks
4 whole star anise
10 whole cloves
pinch of kosher salt
for the cream cheese pastry dough:
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
¼ cup whole milk
1 ½ cups + 2 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
for filling/shaping:
1 egg, well beaten
kosher salt
2 Tablespoons sugar + ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon + pinch kosher salt
- For the pumpkin: cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds. (If you’d like to roast the seeds, Simple Recipes has a wonderful recipe here).
- Cut into 1 ½-2” chunks, leaving the skin on, and trim off any soft bits/fibers from the inside of the pumpkin.
- In a large, heavy pot combine all the remaining ingredients – both sugars, water, orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves and a good pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the pumpkin chunks and stir gently to combine.
- Lower the heat to a very low boil and cook for 1 hour covered.
- Reduce the heat a bit more so it barely bubbles, and cook for 30 minutes partially covered.
- Remove the lid and give it another 30 minutes on low to allow the syrup to reduce.
- Remove from heat and let sit, uncovered until cool enough to handle.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and carefully remove the pumpkin from the syrup, letting any excess syrup drip back into the pot and spread out the pumpkin out on the prepared pan. Discard the spices (eat the candied orange and save the excess syrup for another use.)
- Set aside to cool completely. I like to let it sit covered overnight as the pumpkin tends to candy a bit more as it sits.) Do ahead: the pumpkin can be cooked up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated.
- for the pastry dough: In a food processor, process the butter, cream cheese, and milk until combined.
- Add the flour and salt and process just until combined and the dough holds together in a ball.
- Turn out onto a well-floured surface and press to combine. Divide into 3 pieces, flatten into disks and wrap each in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. The dough can rest in the refrigerator up to one day or freeze up to 3 months and defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about a 1/8” thickness, flouring the top to keep the rolling pin from sticking.
- Cut rounds with a 4 ¼” cutter and place on a parchment lined sheet pan.
- Continue rolling and cutting, rerolling the scraps. Place the rounds in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the filling.
- For the filling: peel the skin off the pumpkin, using a paring knife if needed. (the candied skin is quite delicious but won’t be needed here.)
- Dice the peeled pumpkin into small pieces, about ¼”-½”.
- Beat the egg in a small bowl for the egg wash.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
- Heat oven to 375°
- To shape/fill: Working with 3-4 pastry rounds at a time (keep the remaining pastry rounds in the refrigerator until needed), brush the bottom half with the egg wash.
- Place about 1 ½-2 Tablespoons of the pumpkin in the center of each round and top with a pinch of salt.
- Fold dough over filling and press to close.
- Crimp the edge with a fork to seal, and if needed, turn over and crimp the other side too. (The empanadas can be frozen on a sheet pan until solid then transferred to a Ziploc bag for up to 2 months. Egg wash/sugar and bake directly from the freezer adding a few minutes to the baking time. Write the baking instructions on the bag with a sharpie to make things easier.)
- Place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with the spiced sugar. Continue with the remaining rounds and filling.
- Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Cool on a wire rack.
STRESSCAKE 
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