Back in 2001 The Bavarian and I went on our first proper holiday together. Two weeks in America – Boston and Maine. Since it was the first two weeks of October, they were two pumpkin-filled weeks.

I remember there being pumpkin spiced everything, from latte to bagels to candles. I even brought home a can of pumpkin pie filling.

But since then pumpkins in our house have only ever been for carving or making soup with. Last week all that changed.

Our visit to a pumpkin farm saw us return home with seventeen pumpkins. Some were for friends, but eleven were for us.

Several were ear-marked for carving or decor of some sort, another was to be used in pumpkin bread (recipe to follow soon). The butternut squash was to be roasted, but then I saw Fraulein Umlaut’s pumpkin butter photo on Instagram and my head was turned. when she sent me the link to the recipe later on, I was in the kitchen. All the ingredients were in easy reach, do I whipped up a batch straight away.

I made mine slightly differently to Fraulein Umlaut. Here’s my version.

400g peeled and deserved butternut squash

150ml water

150ml apple juice

2 cinnamon sticks

1/4 tsp ground allspice

3 cloves

1 vanilla pod, split

150g sugar

A splash of maple syrup

Dice the squash and place in a saucepan with the water, juice and spices. Cover, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Check that the pumpkin is cooked through. Remove the whole spices. Stir in the sugar then puree the pumpkin and liquid. Bring to the boil again. Stir the mixture as it boils.

After around 20 minutes it will be very thick. Remove from the heat and pour into a large jar or a bowl and leave to cool.

Stored in the fridge, the pumpkin puree will keep for around five days.

We’ve eaten ours on rice pudding, spread on bread, as a breakfast topping on muesli with yogurt, and just simply eaten with a spoon. The other day I even put a few spoonfuls into a loaf cake, along the lines of a banana bread. In short, you could eat it all day.

If you are not convinced yet,here’s what The Bavarian said when I asked what he thought of it (he doesn’t like pumpkin). “Considering it is pumpkin, it is fuckin’ amazing”, he said as he helped himself to a second dollop on his rice pudding.