Arepa di Pampuna: Pumpkin Pancakes from Curacao

I find cooking to be meditative! I traveled to Curacao in 2019 and cooking this dish from scratch really reminded me of the flavors of the island. I missed my last trip there so much! Since it’s pumpkin season here, I wanted to feature this Arepa di Pampuna recipe! It’s so delicious with tons of sweet butter and maple syrup. 

@nomlist

🎃Arepa Di Pampuna from the beautiful island of Curaçao ##curacao ##arepadipampuna ##pumpkinpancakes ##pumpkinspice

♬ original sound – Kaila and Kiki

You can also cook this recipe with canned pumpkin but the best way to do make it is cook it from scratch. 

So grab yourself a medium sized pumpkin. Slice it in half, take out the seeds and then pare the skin off of the pumpkin. 

Then you’re going to cut the pumpkin into chunks so you can cook them down in a pot until they are fork tender. Grab a medium-large sized pot, place the pumpkin chunks inside and fill the water to cover the pumpkin pieces. Cook for about 20 minutes and check if they are done with your fork!

Add the cooked pumpkin to a food processor and blend until smooth

Next up, mix together your pumpkin puree, milk, salt, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg

In a separate small bowl, add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until frothy.

Combine the eggs with the pumpkin puree mixture.

Grab a frying pan and heat up. Then add vegetable oil and heat up. Pour in the pumpkin pancake batter and cook until light brown on each side, about 2 minutes. 

​

Finish it off by topping with generous amount of powdered sugar 

Serve with sweet butter and maple syrup!

vvvv

Arepa di Pampuna: Pumpkin Pancakes from Curacao

• 1 medium pumpkin
• 1 cup AP Flour
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• raisins (optional)
• vegetable oil

Making the Pumpkin Puree

1. First peel the pumpkin and remove all of the seeds

2. Dice the pumpkin into 1 inch pieces

3. Add pumpkin to a medium sized pot and add cold water to cover

4. Cook under the pumpkin is fork tender, about 20 minutes

5. Drain and let cool

6. Add the pumpkin to a food procesor and blend until smooth

Making the Arepas

1. Add eggs to a small bowl and beat until frothy

2. In a large mixing bowl add 1 cup pumpkin puree, cinnamon, sugar, salt, vanilla, flour and milk.

3. Add eggs and to the pumpkin mix and mix well

4. Add raisins to make it super authentic (optional)

5. Heat up frying pan, then add a thin layer of vegetable oil.

6. Slowly pour the arepa mix into the frying pan until desired size.

7. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes and the cooked side of the pancake turns golden brown. Flip the pancake

8. Repeat until done

9. Top the arepas with a dusting of powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup and butter