 And finally, I baked the Kugel in a water-bath for slow, gentle cooking. data-pin-do=)
Dairy-free Pumpkin Noodle Kugel by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan
December 7, 2017
I have substituted almond milk for the usual cream or milk found in a Kugel recipe. There are eggs in this recipe to build the custard, but the butter to grease the baking dish has been replaced with canola or coconut oil. (You may, of course use butter if you wish.) And finally, I baked the Kugel in a water-bath for slow, gentle cooking.
- Prep: 20 mins
- Cook: 30 mins
- Yields: 10 servings
Ingredients
1-12 ounce package, “Pennsylvania Dutch, Homestyle” noodles
2 ½ cups sweetened almond milk
1 heaping cup canned pumpkin/squash puree
8 whole large eggs
¾ cup maple syrup
½ cup dark raisins, plumped in hot water
3 teaspoons canola or coconut oil for greasing the baking dish, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (unless the almond milk already contains vanilla extract)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch kosher salt
3 ounces sliced almonds
1/3 cup sanding sugar (large crystal sugar—often used to decorate cookies)
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat the insides of the baking dish with a teaspoon or two of oil.
Set greased baking dish inside a pan large enough to hold it. Set aside.
Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling and salted water. Cook according to package directions. Drain when noodles have reached ‘al dente’ stage; that is, they should still have a bit of ‘bite’ left; not mushy.
Drain pasta, do NOT rinse. Spread noodles out on a sheet pan and toss with scant 1-2 teaspoons oil to coat. Set aside and let noodles cool completely.
Whisk the eggs together with a pinch of salt. In a separate bowl combine the pumpkin puree, the maple syrup and almond milk together by whisking thoroughly. Add the vanilla extract, the spices and pinch of salt. Whisk again to combine. Slowly whisk the beaten eggs into the pumpkin-almond-milk batter and combine thoroughly.
Fill the greased baking dish with the cooked noodles. Drain the raisins and distribute evenly in the noodles. Slowly pour the batter over the cooked noodles. Put the filled baking dish inside the larger pan and put both together in the oven. Carefully pour hot water into the outside dish (the ‘bain-marie’ or water bath). Just add enough hot water to come up to the middle of the baking dish.
Set the timer for 20 minutes. Carefully slide the dish forward in the oven without splashing hot water on your hands. Scatter the toasted almonds over the top. Repeat with the sanding sugar, scattering over the top. Slide dish back into the oven and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes or longer if necessary.. The custard should just be set; that is soft but not liquid. (This is a good place to use your instant-read thermometer if you have one: the internal temperature of the cooked custard should be 160 degrees.)
Let cool in the water bath 10 minutes.
Serve warm.
Equipment
1 - 9 x 13-inch baking dish
Water bath/’bain marie’ - a roasting pan or other pan large enough to hold both the baking dish and water during baking
