Easy Kabocha Pumpkin Pudding

We have four different kinds of kabocha pumpkins ripening in our veggie garden now. Again, none of them are for sale. It's just for my family and extended family to eat. Then why do we need to grow so many different kinds? Well, it was dad's curiosity; he wanted to compare the taste and texture to pick his "favorite(s)." As a result, we have been eating simmered kabocha VERY often lately, and as you can imagine, I was getting sick of it.

Then this recipe (Japanese) came into my life and saved me. It's an easy pumpkin pudding (or "flan") recipe which doesn't require pressing the pumpkin mash through a strainer. All you have to do is to puree it in an electric blender with other ingredients, and I liked that very much. (Well, to be precise, the original recipe tells you to blend eggs and cream in a separate bowl and then mix with the pumpkin puree mixture made in the blender. And the pudding mixture needs to be strained through a strainer once, but it's no big deal.)

Baking in the oven

I had to admit that the texture was not quite smooth, but it was tolerable. And the taste was pretty good even though I substituted heavy cream with vegetable whipping cream and milk with soy milk so that dad can eat the pudding. The substitution was worth it because he ate it and loved it so much. Perhaps this pudding was the most successful dessert I've ever made here... Both my parents and even mom's tea ceremony students loved it.
GOOD! :D

* Sorry, there was a mistake in what I wrote about the instruction in the original recipe. I fixed it.

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(Added Jul. 29, 2009)

I guess I have been using the word "pudding" quite loosely. But if what I just read on this site is right, I think this dessert should be called "flan" instead of "pudding." This IS quite thick and firm.