Good Pumpkin Pie
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A light, butter shortcrust pastry with a smooth, rich pumpkin pie filling for the Classic all-American autumn Pumpkin Pie treat.
Serves:8
Equipment
- 23 cm loose bottom tart tin, greased and dusted with flour
Ingredients
Pie Filling
- 400 g pumpkin/butternut squash puree tinned is also fine - I used half a medium-sized butternut squash
- 2 large eggs
- 100 g soft brown sugar
- 100 ml double cream
- 4 tbsp Greek chestnut honey or a good rich dark honey
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cardamom
- pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pastry
- 200 g plain flour
- 100 g cold butter (cubed)
- 2 tsp soft light brown sugar this gives a slight bite to the pastry - use the more traditional powdered sugar if you prefer
- 1 large egg yolk (or 2 small yolks) whisked with a drop of iced water
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pure vanilla powder optional
- 1-2 tbsp iced water
Pumking Seed Topping
- large handful of seeds from your pumpkin/squash - washed and dried
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp sea salt
Makes: 23cm round
Instructions
Pastry
- In a food processor, whizz the butter with the flour, salt, vanilla and sugar until you have 'breadcrumbs'. Alternatively, by hand, sift the flour and salt into a bowl, add the sugar and vanilla, and rub the butter into the flour until you have ....... breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg and mix quickly to form a soft dough, adding extra iced water if needed. You'll need less water in the mixer - gather any crumbs and form the pastry into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm and leave it to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. Keep your ingredients cold, and work quickly - don't overwork the pastry.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C
- Roll it out to fill your tart tin - using as little flour as possible. Bake blind at 180 °C for about 10 minutes, remove the baking beans, prick the tart base and bake for another 5 minutes to dry the tart base. Do not brown!
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- While the pastry is resting, make the filling. Peel and cut the butternut squash - remove and wash the seeds and leave to dry.
- Cut the pumpkin into large cubes; cover with a minimum of water in a saucepan with the lid closed.*see note 1 below. Simmer for 15 minutes (or less) so it is mashable, strain very well, and put it back into the saucepan over a gentle heat to remove any moisture; whizz or push through a sieve to make the puree. Stir in the honey and spices. Mix well and leave to cool. Omit this step if you are using canned!!
- Whizz the eggs with all the orange zest and sugar until light and frothy. Add the pumpkin puree and cream and mix well. Don't forget to add the honey if you are using tinned pumpkin.*see notes 2 below. Pour the filling into the warm pastry crust - don't overfill - about ¾ of the tin is perfect as it will rise.
- Bake at 180 °C for 40-45 minutes - check after 25 minutes if the pastry is starting to brown - cover with a circle of tin foil. When ready, the edges should be firm, but the centre will be slightly wobbly - it will set when cool.
Pie Decoration
- The filling does tend to crack; to minimise this, cool slowly and don't remove it from the tin until it is completely cool. Ideally, slide it onto a very flat serving plate. Even a slightly curved plate will allow the base to drop and the pie to crack.
- When cool, either dust with cinnamon and icing sugar or with salted honey pumpkin seeds. Simply dry roast the seeds saved from earlier, on low heat, in a non-stick or heavy-based frying pan. Once golden and toasted, turn off the heat, drizzle with a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup and sprinkle with salt. Leave to cool and use to decorate your pie.
- Serve with whipped cream, brandy cream or crème fraîche.
Notes
Shortcrust Pastry
The pastry in this recipe is a light shortcrust - if you want a firmer pasty - use the whole egg instead of just the yolk.
To prevent the pastry edges from burning - you may need to protect them with a foil ring. Fold a square of silver foil twice to make a smaller square, then cut a semi-circle from one folded side to the other. Leaving you with a foil ring. You can rest it on the pie - it doesn't matter if it covers the filling slightly.
Pumpkin Puree
Notes 1) As an alternative to boiling the pumpkin. Preheat the oven a little earlier and bake in two halves with the seeds removed. Scoop out the flesh and push through a sieve as for boiled pumpkin.
Notes 2) If using canned pumpkin, warm the honey so it easily dissolves into the puree.
To prevent the pastry edges from burning - you may need to protect them with a foil ring. Fold a square of silver foil twice to make a smaller square, then cut a semi-circle from one folded side to the other. Leaving you with a foil ring. You can rest it on the pie - it doesn't matter if it covers the filling slightly.
Pumpkin Puree
Notes 1) As an alternative to boiling the pumpkin. Preheat the oven a little earlier and bake in two halves with the seeds removed. Scoop out the flesh and push through a sieve as for boiled pumpkin.
Notes 2) If using canned pumpkin, warm the honey so it easily dissolves into the puree.
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