Hollow out the pumpkin
Step-by-step instructions
© Olga Pink / Shutterstock
Fall is pumpkin time again! We’ll show you how you can easily hollow out a pumpkin, for example to serve delicious pumpkin soup or to make a decoration for Halloween.
Step 1: Choose the right pumpkin
The choice of pumpkin depends on what you want to use it for later. If you have one for Halloween If you want to carve a pumpkin, you can use a large carving pumpkin, for example. If you like the hollowed out pumpkins for serving soup If you want to use it, the Hokkaido pumpkin is best because it has an edible peel.
In general, it can be said that small pumpkins are harder to hollow out than large ones. In addition, the fruits should have no cracks or pressure points. You can recognize a ripe pumpkin because it has a hard shell and sounds hollow when tapped.
Step 2: Cut off the lid
So that the pumpkin has a good surface to stand on, you should cut off the bottom of it a little so that a straight surface arises. You can choose between two versions for the lid: If you want to serve pumpkin cream soup in it, cut the lid with a sharp knife relatively flat. This ensures that as much content as possible fits into the pumpkin.
With a Halloween pumpkin It looks particularly nice if you carve a zigzag pattern. In any case, you should Cut into the lid in a wedge shape and leave the handle on so the lid can be easily removed later.
Step 3: Hollow out the pumpkin
Now you can scrape out the pulp with a large spoon or ice cream scoop and hollow out the pumpkin. Leave one alone thick edge of about two centimetersto keep the pumpkin stable. You can also use a flashlight to illuminate the inside of the pumpkin and check whether the light shines through the shell.
Step 4: Process the pumpkin further
If you hollow out a pumpkin, you should Be sure to keep the inside. For example, you can use the pulp to bake a delicious pumpkin cake or pumpkin pie or make pumpkin compote, pumpkin puree and pumpkin jam. You can find more pumpkin recipes on our Pinterest board.
You can also roast the pumpkin seeds or sow next spring and grow new pumpkins. You can also use them for a delicious pumpkin seed soup. For Halloween we have great instructions with lots of ideas on how to carve the pumpkin a scary pumpkin face can create:
Video tip: We’ll show you how you can easily peel a pumpkin 
Would you like to throw a Halloween party? Here we have put together beautiful Halloween ideas with a spooky factor.