Nov
18
Thanksgiving Part I
Thanksgiving was about sharing abundance when food was scarce, but now that food is somewhat abundant and easily accessible (Accessible in comparison to the days where consumption was dependent on hunting and gathering) I think Thanksgiving in the present tense is more about sharing symbols. I want to create a thanksgiving meal that is less about creating an abundance of leftovers and instead maximizing on the visual appeal of these “thanksgiving” symbols. Today’s symbol is the pumpkin, as a dessert. One Pumpkin dessert is fully clothed, the other naked, haha.
Fully Clothed Pumpkin
Mix both colors, blue and white, with your hands. Here I am preparing the silicone mold so I can make my own mold of the mini pumpkin.
Cut the pumpkin in half, make sure you make the cut as straight as possible.
I shaped the soft mold over the mini pumpkin which was cut in half. You don’t need a lot of Silicone, just enough to cover the pumpkin.
Okay, so after 30 minutes to 1 hr you can take the mold out. Make sure to rub the pumpkin with the CHAPSTICK I featured in the first couple of images so that you can release the mold. If there are holes in your mold, no big deal, just make more silicone and cover the holes.
Knot one side of the pumpkin with wire after you’ve sealed both edges with a dressmaking pin. Make sure the edges inside meet so that there the least amount of seams. Open up the other side, gently place your pie crust whilst gently nudging it in, don’t stretch the pie crust. Start pressing the pie crust down a little to make sure it shapes into the mold of the pumpkin. Seal the mold again on the other side, with a knot and pin. Squeeze your pumpkin pie mix inside with a cake frosting dispenser. There are SO MANY pumpkin pie recipes out there, just choose your favorite. You can see below I left a little hole at the top so I can squeeze in my filling. Take note of this if you decide to create this mold, make sure to create a little hole.
Off to the oven for 1hr 40 mins at 400F. The time really depends on your oven. It may take 2 hrs. About 20 minutes before its done, take the pumpkin out of the mold and brush it with egg wash.
The leaves were created with a cutter.
I like that this pumpkin is an individual “pie” for one person and that there might be less leftovers. I think there is a lot of food tends to get wasted during Thanksgiving (the meal I had last year surely created a LOT of waste) so this time I’m opting for a super concise thanksgiving meal, less waste. These desserts are part of this new plan. 
Naked Pumpkin (Pumpkin pie Cocktail)
A more figure friendly pumpkin dessert, this custard like treat is a cross between a pumpkin pie and a cocktail, it has rum and mulling spices in it! Also, if you’re the type of person who likes to dig out the pumpkin filling and ditch the pie crust, this is perfect for you! Its also vegan if you remove the white chocolate garnishes I’ve placed in the pictures. It involves mixing mashed pumpkin, mulling spices cooked in Agar Agar, cinnamon, soy milk, rum, and vegan sugar. You can actually just follow a basic pumpkin pie recipe mix, take out the eggs, replace the condensed milk in the pie recipe with soy milk and add the agar agar with mulling spice, about 1/2 cup.
Using the same mold, this time I closed the whole pumpkin with the seams matching (Again).
Agar Agar mixture cooking with Mulling Spices.
Add the agar agar liquid into the modified, vegan, pumpkin pie mix now with the rum. As much or as little as you want..
Pour the mold back into the little hole, and wrap the whole mold in tin foil in case the mold leaks. Its okay if the pumpkin inside doesn’t set perfectly, you can just shave off any imperfections. No Big deal! Let it set in the fridge.
Today we added a new section of this website called “Shop Luxirare Favorites“. Its in the sidebar to the right, triangle shape. I made some careful selections in terms of books, tools, and other day to day objects that I use, all extracted from Amazon. There are a a lot of books in the store, 1/2 of them I already own, the other half I wish I did own. This store is also good because it helps me keep track of things I need to look at in the future. I hope you can find something in the store that you like! Stay tuned for Thanksgiving part II!
wow amazing!
Amazing and looks delicious! A great contemporary take on thanksgiving. Now I want some pumpkin pie…
OMG. you are just toooo creative O___O
just love the idea of pumpkin shaped individual pumpkin pies. are you gonna make a whole slew of them for thanksgiving? if so i hope you’re making more molds lol!
Hi kitty,
Maybe you will see more molds..
the possibilities of endless flavors of this blow my mind…
UNBELIEVABLE!!!! You are truly incredible!!!
xx
YUMMYDELICIOUS- you exceed my expectations every single time
don’t u think molecular gastronomy is fabulous? it makes my day. loved the custard.:)
Yes I do!
This bears repeating: you’re a goddess!
Those look super delicious.
& I’m loving the shop! I was wondering what the triangles were for in your last post.
The triangles are for product links. Every time you see a triangle glowing on top of the image it means it looks to the vendor.
agar agar always reminds me of home. am now going to play with it next week when i fly down to see the parents. i love combining it with dried fruit. i have this sudden urge to try it with dried figs next…
What a great idea. I love the flavor of FRESH figs.
your mind seriously has no boundaries. this is incredible.
Oh-Em-Gee, you made pumpkin-shaped pumpkin pie. Brilliant concept and execution. Can I invite you over for Thanksgiving dinner if you’re not leaving the City?
Oh my gosh, the time and patience you have to create these edible works of art…I’d love to be a guest at one of your dinner parties!
Suprisingly, this post didn’t take too long.
Lovely! Thank you so much for all of your posts!
Ha ha radical pumpkin!
Love your work Luxirare.
Too cool.
This is brilliant! And looks relatively easy to do at home
Exactly, Didn’t want to alienate anyone with this post. I will admit the pie version of the pumpkin IS difficult in the beginning, takes a few moments of messing around to get it right, but Thanksgiving is about being inclusive, so I didn’t want to scare anyone off with some crazy idea.
Fabulous!
Incredible as always.
Possibly due to not being used to the new triangle tagging thing, but am desperate to find the branch spoon/cutlery in this post? Can anyone help?
(Sorry to be one of those annoying commenters who asks something obvious if I am)
Nia, I hope you were able to find the answer in the comments section, someone named “k()rt” answered your question.
NIA, Google Michael Aram Twigware for the flatware.
that blew my mind… amazing
ill. yet again.
These are amazing- wow. You are so clever!
@ NIA, the cutlery was listed in a previous post, it’s available here: http://www.jaysonhomeandgarden.com
search for sapling
OH MAH GAH.
I’m in love. This puts pumpkin oats and pumpkin yogurt bowls down the effing garbage disposal.
Luxirare- you ARE my hero.
I just fell out of my chair. At work.
These are brilliant. You’re fantastic! Every single one of my comments sound the same, but I can’t help it, I can’t get over your genius brain and creativity. MAN. SERIOUSLY.
I am now dying because you wrote Part I, all I can do now is sit around and freak out and wait for Part II.
Could you elaborate a little more on the stem of the pumpkin pie? Was it placed before it went into the oven or when the mold was taken off? Would you recommend covering it with foil to prevent charring?
Beautifully done, as always.
Hi Sharifa
Sorry about leaving that part out!
The stem was created (pie crust version) by sculpting pie dough in the shape, wrapping it in tin foil. Then what I did was use a little frosting to glue it onto the pumpkin.
The white chocolate stem for the cocktail was done by just pouring a little melted white chocolate over the top of the pumpkin (where there is an indent) and then I placed the shaped stem on top. You can make a mold for the stem too by following the same steps on the mold making site, or you can sculpt one as I have..
WOW!!! I am truly amazed and impressed at what you do. My husband is an artist (fine art) and he really really loves your work. I think we’re in love with you. I love your website and can’t wait for part II.
Interesting, sitting here a bit ashamed that a Fine Artist is looking at my blog. Fine artists are gems of society!
<3 oh luxirare, I love your work. everything you do is absolutely fantastic!
wow wow wow that is absolutely fantastic! my mouth is watering!
Once again, truly inspiring. Your talent amazes me.
All your posts seriously blow my mind.
I don’t know anyone but you that would think of such amazing creations.
woah! TWO commenters named Nia? color me surprised. these pies are too cute for words. i’m not a usually crazy about pumpkin anything but i’d give this a taste any day of the week!
Hi Nia,
Yes there is another Nia here, she is one of my favorite readers, she’s been with me since the beginning along with Joshua.
I’ve never seen molding silicone before! Now I’ve got a bunch of ideas for molded treats! Thanks again!!!
Its very fun and so easy. I hope you took at the site, they teach you how to do it.
I love your dvd recommendations in your shop. Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of my favorite shows.
Glad you like it!!
Not having ever celebrated Thanksgiving, this makes me want to try pumpkin pie. I can’t imagine pumpkin being used as a dessert! I could see this pie mold technique working well for a meat pie.
Interesting that you don’t celebrate it at all, I’m intrigued. Its not my favorite holiday either but I think it gives everyone a great excuse to bond with family and get drunk.
Am I the only one who thinks that the word “gastronomy” is extremely strange? Why would the use of “gastr-” be for food? When i think of “gastr-” i think of the STOMACH… not food! When I hear terms like “molecular gastronomy” all I can think of is … digestion.
Oh! I meant because it’s a country specific holiday and I am Australian.
p.s. It would be cool if there was a functionality to add to comments – I notice that some other comments relate directly to comments before
You mean other people being able to respond directly to your comments? Besides luxirare?
I’m Australian too, no pumpkin pie for us! I don’t think I’ve ever had it.
Yes!
all your creations are freaking fantastic, but this one I’m actually tempted to try!!
What type of silicone did you use? I ask because this is going to make me a hit at the family dinner! Thank you so much, you’r website is a continuing source of inspiration for me. This combined with the pie pops is shaping up for an amazing Thanksgiving…
you are very talented, Luxirare! It’s nice to see so much passion in the work! all my compliments!
LOL LUXIRARE! I keep seeing your posts in the most random websites, like korean pop culture forum. =)
BTW, you’re a genius.
Your creativity has no bounds. These desserts look so delicious!
This is such fun! And Part I…as in “These are really cute and delicious and sum Thanksgiving up in a nutshell (*silcone mold) but hold the gravvy; there is more”???? Wow. Yesh…part II, come swiftly! lol
oh my goodness. who are these all for?
wow. really interesting…i never would have thought to use a hand/home made mold, but the results are great! just wondering, but about how long did this take you to do for each pumpkin recipe? o, and i’ve decided i like the naked one better. i’ll have to try one out, though possibly without the rum…any suggestions for a substitute?
Hmm..you can replace it with…Brandy? I think that would be good.
I like the naked one too, it looks more like a real pumpkin and its figure friendly.
i’m really going to have to try that pumpkin pie method! this is the first time i’m going to actually attempt one of your creations!
Hi.
I read your blog with so much fun.
I like cooking but your work is very professional I highly admit!!
The mold is for the food?! I wasn’t thinking… Looks yummy!
Finally your store is opened, are you going to produce your original items?
I want to try your original food and your clothes.
I just launched my blog. Have a look if you’re interested.
http://fashion-and-things.blogspot.com/
Congrats your store!
Looks brilliant. very impressive. thank you for sharing. x
Thank you for leaving a comment!
BRILLIANT. seriously incredible. concept pumpkin pie! i love it
Have you tried pie crust with rendered leaf lard? It’s aaaamazing. They sell it at the greenmarket at Flying Pigs Farm. It makes really flaky crust without any translucence.
Beautiful work. I want to see some Luxirare molded candles!!
Thank you for continuing to blow my mind and for the new online shop…Just out of curiosity, if you were going to a very casual potluck on the beach (in Hawaii) what would you make? And, what horoscope sign are you? Virgo? Just a guess! Keep up the awesome postings!
No I am a capricorn! Ha ha..Another person asked me that…
Just adding to the adoration. I love your vision – food and fashion. One thing I really enjoy about your blog is that everything you do seems so fresh and new. I get so bored looking at so many designers and magazines. They just seem to rehash the same old… it’s nice to see actual effort and talent.
you’re brilliant!
Nope, not true..trust me!
Brilliance = people like einstein, Nelson Goodman, Rei Kawakubo….Have we forgotten what true brilliance is? Besides I hear my grammar is extremely poor….lol.
i’ve been recently introduced to your blog and i’m hooked! it blows my mind how creative you are. quick question…how many ounces of silicone did you need to make this mold? is it re-usable?
hmm I forget…I ordered both blue and white…one package of each, and mixed about 1/4 of each (blue,white) and then rubbed it all over the pumpkin. It dries pretty quick but no you can’t melt it down and use it again. Once your mold is set its set.
Those look amazing. I never once thought you could bake with sillicone putty, but I guess it makes sense. I wanna try it with some weird fruit shape like a dragon fruit.
i meant to ask is the mold re-usable, or do you have to make one mold for each time you make this?
Oh yes, sure. I have used this mold twice already, just wash it with soap and water. If its too thin though, the mold might break.
Please where can i find the html of the sidebar to the right, triangle shape ?
This will be very usefull for the readers of my photography’s blog.
Luxirare, you have unlocked the treasure chest of personalized cooking. ON the eve of Thanksgiving, I am inspired all over., despite having cooked the holiday feast for probably twice as many years as you are old.
My question: Could you do this with a turkey?
Thanks.
You could totally do a turkey mold. Stuff it, serve it…Its totally doable, in fact I was going to do this for my thanksgiving post. I would use ground turkey meat and season it well. I would bake it in the mold, depending on how big the mold is….You can sort of tell when ground meat is done. I wouldn’t know the time it would take to bake it, because I haven’t tried it yet, but I would put it in for at 375f
Make sure to use a non stick mold and butter or oil your mold as much as possible.
Have fun!
I love this idea!
I’ll be sure to try it, the possibilities are endless! Little skulls for Halloween, or tiny teapots!
And I would love to see you make a gingerbread house! Just to see what it turns out like.
i’ve heard mixed opinions about cooking with silicone and whether it’s safe or not. what is your opinion?
who gets to eat all this amazing food with you? lucky person.
I would love love love to see a behind the scenes video of one of your projects!! You’re incredible! Thanks for inspiring!!
Genius.
I love you idea about a more concise thanksgiving dinner! I’d love to apply that to almost any major holiday dinner, actually. It’s very true how we always end up with an abundance of leftovers. Having a dinner that is visually stimulating (in a very different and brilliant way) seems like a great thing to do!
I love hoe you apply the kaiseki style of dining to a very non-kaiseki like american dinner!
THIS IS WAY BEYOND WORDS. I mean, seriously. I wish ppl like you lived next door to me! hahaha
<3
THIS IS SO NEXT LEVEL. AHHHHH!!*dies*
you’re an inspiration
What inspired this? Did you see it somewhere?
As usual – merveilleuse!
As unusual, I am too moved to not comment as is my wont.
Hope your T-Day was enjoyable!
GG
Wow, that is such a great idea! Why didn’t I think of this!?!?! I really enjoy your blog.
So cool! I really want to test out some recipes with agar agar. It seems like such a versatile ingredient. Hope your Thanksgiving was fun! (I think we can safely assume it was delicious.)
I think your mind is so incredibly beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
MMM this is gorgeous!
Holy smokes! I am so jealous of your creativity! Thank you for your posts!