Pumpkin brûlée and pancakes! UHI cookery students have solutions for Halloween waste

If you're wondering what to do with any leftover pumpkins this weekend, budding chefs in Dornoch have the answer.

UHI North, West and Hebrides SVQ Professional Cookery students have created a series of innovative dishes which use the humble Halloween pumpkin, showing there is much more to the seasonal favourite than carving.

The resulting menu is anything but spooky, with recipes including pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin and apple loaf cake with cream cheese frosting, pumpkin crème brûlée and pumpkin brownies.

The recipes have been developed using a single large pumpkin, with students testing different ways to make use of the flesh and other edible parts of the vegetable.

'Pumpkins are a tremendous cooking ingredient'

Lecturers at the UHI campus in Dornoch developed the project in a bid to raise awareness of food waste around Halloween.

According to Love Food, Hate Waste around 12.8 million pumpkins bought for decoration each year are left uneaten, with a staggering 67% of UK families throwing away at least one perfectly palatable pumpkin.

Simon Rodgers, Lecturer in Hospitality and Tourism at UHI North, West and Hebrides, explained how his students roasted whole pumpkins after carving them. 

He said: “We've had them on the doorstep for the night, then washed them, roasted them then pureed them.  

"Pumpkins are a big part of Halloween, but more often than not they are carved out and binned.

“They’re packed with vitamins and minerals and are a tremendous cooking ingredient. The idea behind this project was to prove that and create a range of recipes that people can make at home.

“Many of our graduates end up in some of the UK’s best-known restaurants, places like The Ritz and Gleneagles Hotel, and this was an opportunity to take a familiar ingredient and think creatively about how it can be used.

“It’s not just about that, though. We want to highlight that there are often simple but creative ways to reduce food waste in any circumstance. It’s a message that’s relevant throughout the year, although it is particularly relevant at Halloween.”

We've included some of their pumpkin themed creations and recipes below, with more available here.

UHI North, West and Hebrides offers Professional Cookery courses are taught at the institution’s Dornoch, Fort William, Stornoway and Thurso campuses, combining formal training with practical experience that can make all the difference when students take their first steps into the industry.