Baked Pumpkin Fruit Salad

So, I'm baking pumpkins galore when I realize that both...yes, both...of the recipes that I'm making call for brown sugar. I haven't had brown sugar since Christmas.

I look up a recipe on making a brown sugar substitute, which calls for molasses. Really? If I had molasses on hand, I'd probably have brown sugar, too. So, I looked up a substitute for molasses. Now, we're getting somewhere!

I found this recipe for Baked Stuffed Pumpkin and it called for a fruity filling, rather than custard or pumpkin pie filling. A couple of modifications for things we have on hand and things we like to eat, and we have a tasty treat.



BAKED PUMPKIN FRUIT SALAD

1 medium sugar (pie) pumpkin
4 apples, cored and chopped
1 cup walnuts
1 (14-16 oz) can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks
1 (15.25 oz) can unpeeled apricot halves
1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Make sure oven setting is center rack.

2.) Cut off the top of the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds.

3.) In a large bowl, combine the fruit, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon mixture into pumpkin.

4.) Place pumpkin on a baking sheet or baking pan. Bake for 1 hour & 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin starts to get soft. After it's baked, stir the mixture to get some for the soft pumpkin flesh mixed with the apple mixture.