Burra, it is possible to go with honey, I would actually recommend mixing honey and some syrups. I recall people mixing honey and a certain thick and dark grape syrup called Pekmez instead of typical sugar for such recipes (5:1).
Regarding the type of pumpkin, the good-old mainstream orange variant works as well, yet this one is more commonly used:
I would also imagine Hokkaido or other delicious variants working all good in their own ways.
(One final tip would be to use a mixture of grounded and crushed walnuts.)
And for the last but not the least, many thanks for the warm welcoming!
