Pumpkin Maple Butter

This stuff is amazingly good! It's from a cookbook of preserves, aptly titled "Preserves" by Catherine Atkinson and Maggie Mayhew. It's so wonderfully autumn-esque, perfect for this time of year. I am in so much love with it that I had to share it! Enjoy! PS: I cheated and used canned pumpkin (as fresh is hard to come by around here), skipping straight to step two, and I think it worked perfectly. Servings are wrong obviously, and the time is from the book, not what it took me with canned pumpkin (it was very quick to make).

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 4 1/2 jars

Ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 lbs fresh pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 2  cups water, scant
• 1  orange, juice and zest of
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 cup maple syrup
• 3 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar, warmed

Directions

1. Put the pumpkin in a pot with water and cook for 30-40 minutes, until it is very tender. Drain, and using the back of a spoon, press the cooked pumpkin through a fine sieve into a bowl.
2. Stir the orange zest and juice, cinnamon, and maple syrup into the puree, then measure the puree into a large pot, adding 1 1/3 cups of warmed sugar for every 2 1/2 cups of puree.
3. Gently heat the puree, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil for ten to twenty minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture forms a thick puree that holds its shape when spooned on to a cold plate.
4. Spoon the butter into small warm and sterilized jars. Seal. Let cool completely in an area free of drafts. Label, then store in a cool, dark place for 2 days before eating.
5. Note: One large can of pumpkin with the other ingredients equals about 4 cups, so I used about 2 cups of sugar. (please don't comment if my math is wrong :) , but this did work). This made 4 1/2 small jars; the half jar I let cool completely and was going to keep in the fridge as it wouldn't have a good enough seal, but someone found it and ate it on toast before this could happen -- Also, I didn't boil it for the full 20 minutes, ten was fine, but I'm sure with fresh pumpkin the full 20 would probably be needed.