Steamed pumpkin and coconut custard

In Thai, sangkaya means custard, which is the basis of quite a few Thai desserts. One of the most popular of these is a coconut custard steamed inside a pumpkin. Thai pumpkins are small and squat with knobbly blue-green skin and light golden flesh. Japanese pumpkins are quite close to them in both taste and texture. If you can't find a small enough pumpkin, you can make the custard separately, steaming it in a small tray and serving it with slices of steamed pumpkin. It is also often served with steamed white sticky rice. Make sure you use the thickest coconut cream, otherwise the custard could split and it will never really set firmly once it has cooled. Thai cooks like to steam this over quite a high heat, which can also cause the custard to split and will certainly leave pock marks as the air expands and forms bubbles under such duress. I plump for a gentler approach, which makes for longer cooking but a better result. The custard should taste of palm sugar and the texture should be rich and velvety.