Pumpkin Cranberry Pudding

We're getting ready for Halloween with a slew of special treats! Over the next two weeks, we're sharing our favorite pumpkiny recipes, fun tricks to spookify a lunch box, and special dishes perfect for Halloween parties and fun dinners.

Some of them are new, and some are favorites from the 250 recipes in our archives. This is one of our favorites from seasons past: Anna's Pumpkin Pudding, an easy homemade treat decorated with an easy and vibrant fresh cranberry sauce.

As my kids drool over the bags of candy in stores (are those bags getting bigger every year?), I feel swamped by sweets. But this pudding, whose only indulgence is condensed milk, is a great way to satisfy your family's sweet tooth without caving in to this sugar-crazy season.

Pumpkin Pudding

Ideally it should be prepared one day before dinner party. But a good 6 hours in the fridge will do the trick if you are in a hurry.

Pudding

1 can organic pumpkin or 15 oz (425 g) cooked sugar pumpkin
1 14 oz. can condensed milk
2 cups Almond Milk or Soy Milk
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon lime or lemon zest
2 envelopes unflavored Knox gelatin

Sauce

1/2 pound fresh cranberries
2 cups apple juice

In one bowl mix condensed milk, pumpkin and spice. In a sauce pan, warm almond milk and dissolve the gelatin in it. When gelatin is dissolved and mix is warm, add it to the bowl of pumpkin and condensed milk and blend well. Pour into a plastic mold or bundt cake mold and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

For the sauce, simmer cranberries with apple juice until smooth. Remove the chilled pudding from of the mold and spoon the sauce over it and into the well in the center.