Arnadí pumpkin dessert: a step-by-step recipe

Arnadí is a pumpkin sweet with almonds and cinnamon, and its difficulty lies not in the technique but in the calendar: it takes two days. This recipe card follows the recipe from “Entraré a la cuina”, the book from the Caroig-Xúquer area, and tells you what has to be ready the day before.

The day before: roast and drain

It all starts with a pumpkin of about 3 kg that is roasted in the oven at 180 °C for an hour and a half. The book insists it be done slowly so that it evaporates as much liquid as possible. When it is roasted, it is peeled, the seeds are removed and the flesh is mashed with a fork until you have a fine, even paste with no lumps. The stringy fibres are removed, the flesh is put in a cloth bag and left hanging overnight so that it drains by itself.

This is the part that counts most: getting a mixture with no liquid in it is, according to the book, one of the secrets of this sweet. The 3 kg in the list are those of the whole pumpkin before roasting.

The next day: the pot

With the flesh already drained, it is mixed with the sugar, and if you want some help, with a food mill. The mixture goes into a pot over a very low heat, and from that moment you do not stop stirring: the cinnamon, the zest of the lemons and the orange juice go in, and then the ground almonds and the previously beaten yolks. It is about 15 minutes of cooking in the pot, always stirring.

The book’s list asks for three yolks and the pot step speaks of four; here the three from the list are used.

The book’s two versions differ on flavourings: the Spanish recipe uses a tablespoon of cinnamon and the zest of two lemons; the Valencian recipe uses a teaspoon and two limes. Use the Spanish combination for this recipe: one tablespoon of cinnamon and two lemons. These are different quantities of cinnamon and different citrus fruits, rather than alternative names for the same ingredients.

Shaping and decorating

The mixture is divided into a large earthenware dish or small individual earthenware dishes, and shaped into a pyramid with a spatula. While the oven heats to 180 °C, the surface is decorated with pine nuts and whole almonds, raw or lightly browned; the book says that, if they are browned, a little is enough because they finish cooking in the oven. Lastly, sugar and cinnamon are sprinkled on.

These quantities fill one large dish or six individual dishes. For the large dish, use the whole mixture; for individual portions, divide it between the six dishes. Changing the format does not mean reducing the ingredients: the book offers both presentations for the same recipe. Shape the surface with a spatula before adding the nuts, sugar and cinnamon.

The oven: two temperatures

The baking has two stretches. First 5 minutes at 180 °C and then the oven is lowered to 150 °C for a time that runs from 45 minutes to an hour. The sign is not the clock but the colour: when the arnadí takes on a golden tone, it is done. Then it is taken out and left to cool. In total, the recipe card adds up 170 minutes of cooking, at the high end: 90 of roasting, 15 in the pot, 5 at 180 °C and up to 60 at 150 °C. It does not include the overnight draining or the final cooling, which the book does not quantify, so allow for them separately.

Holy pumpkin and holy sweet potato

The book says that in some towns of the Ribera del Xúquer the same sweet is made with sweet potato, and that they are known as holy pumpkin and holy sweet potato, being the ritual desserts of Holy Week. If you are interested in the sweet potato version in another format, there are the sweet potato pastissets, and for another sweet from the same book with sweet potato in the dough, the All Saints fogassa. It contains almonds, egg and, if you add pine nuts, more nuts: check the 14 allergens before serving it.

If the meal is for a group

With this sweet you have to plan the day before, because arnadí cannot be rushed. If you are organising a group meal, see how we handle local fiestas and get a quote.