Thanksgiving Roasted Squash Crème Brûlée

I put a lot of love into this week's video because Thanksgiving is such a special time of year. A time to savour delicious food with our loved ones. And a time to celebrate and give thanks for what the earth gives us. So consider this video my way of wishing you a very joyful and festive season, from my table, to yours. And in case you're wondering how I staged such a festive dinner in the video, I'll fill you in on the secret. We Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving back in October so I took the opportunity to film our feast and share our most precious moments with you, along with the preparation of this week's roasted squash crème brûlée.

For me, roasted squash perfectly embodies the warmth and taste of Thanksgiving. And when you're living on a farm, squash are usually so plentiful (to put it mildly) at this time of year. I'm especially a fan of baby squash, in all their shapes, colours, and sizes. So this festive dessert celebrates those little baby squash, halved, hollowed, filled to the brim with rich and creamy crème brûlée, and topped with its signature crunchy burnt sugar topping. As the crème brûlée bakes, so does the squash half and some people like to eat the baked squash flesh after they have finished the crème brûlée. I myself prefer to leave it but I always make sure to scoop it out and save it for soup.

You can use any squash you like for the hollowed squash halves. Round-shaped squash work best but whatever you can find in your garden or at your local farmer's market will do the trick. The squashes should be about 4 inches in diameter. As for the crème brûlée filling itself, you'll need a little bit of purée from a squash that has a creamy texture and a sweet taste. I often use buttercup squash but you could also use butternut, delicata, or dumpling squash. Pumpkin also works nicely if you're going for a pumpkin pie flavour (then you can call it Pumpkin Pie Crème Brûlée!)

If you don't have a chef's torch to burn the sugar, the broiler in your oven will do the trick. Just be sure to keep an eye on it because the sugar will caramelize and burn in no time.

May you all have a most wonderful Thanksgiving season, with your loved ones by your side.