I have to admit, after creating my breakfast in a jar with all its colourful layers I was really chuffed. The colours work so well together and the flavours complement each other perfectly. I have been baking cakes with pumpkin for years now, my absolute favourite! I love the combination of pumpkin and cinnamon – so very autumn! The wonderful thing about pumpkins is that they can be stored for months and therefore are available for delicious recipes long after autumn has gone. Since the pumpkin has to be baked before using it for the breakfast jar, the preparation time can be a little longwinded. But don’t get put off! Why not make pumpkin wedges as a savoury side dish and increase the portion to have leftovers for your sweet breakfast jar? The baked wedges can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days, or even better, you can prepare your jar in the evening already, because it stores well over night in the fridge!

Ingredients:
For 1 jam jar portion

For the pumpkin layer:

• 2 tbsps. baked butternut squash mash (or Hokkaido/ Jarrahdale (Ghirardelli) pumpkin)
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tbsps. grated apple, preferably Braeburn
• 3-4 drops vanilla essence

For the berry sauce layer:

• 4 tbsps. cooked forest berries (from frozen)
• 1 tsp. rice malt syrup
• Splash of water

Other ingredients:

• 6 tbsps. whole oats
• 1 tbsp. flaxseeds
• 4 tbsps. full-fat coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. coconut flakes

Instructions:

1. Chop up the pumpkin into chunks, grease them with olive oil and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle the pumpkin wedges with sea salt and bake in a pre-heated oven for approx. 30 minutes or until soft at 180°C. This can be done a day or two prior to preparing the breakfast pot; just store the baked pumpkin pieces in a plastic container in the fridge. However, it is easier to mash them up when they are still warm, so I would recommend storing the pumpkin as mash rather than pieces in the fridge.
2. For the pumpkin layer, mix mashed pumpkin (can be done with a fork) with grated apple, vanilla essence and cinnamon powder.
3. For the berry sauce layer, take a big handful of mixed berries (such as raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and blackberries – such forest berry mixtures can be purchased frozen which is fine to use for this recipe) and cook in a small pot with a splash of water and some rice malt syrup. Usually frozen berries are rather sour, which is why is add some sweetener to it. If you are using sun-ripened, fresh berries which are most likely sweeter is taste I would recommend to not sweeten it any further.
4. Cook the sauce for several minutes until the liquid has thickened up slightly.
5. Take a jam or Mason jar and a tablespoon and pour in 2 tablespoons of the berry sauce while still hot. Then add 2 tablespoons oats. Scoop up 1 large tablespoon of pumpkin apple mash. Then pour 2 tablespoons of coconut milk on top. Again, add 2 tablespoons of berry sauce followed by 2 tablespoons of oats, 1 tablespoon pumpkin and apple mash and another measure of coconut milk.
6. Take the last 2 tablespoons of oats, add 1 tablespoon flaxseeds and top it all up with a large tablespoon of shredded coconut flakes.
7. Put the lid on the jar while the berry sauce inside is still warm. This will produce a slight vacuum which will preserve the ingredients longer. However, I would recommend to consume the jar within 36 hours (the fresher the better!) and to keep it stored in the fridge until then.

 

Author: Danica Utermohlen
Picture credits: Danica Utermohlen