Pumpkin Pie

There is a saying 'As American as Apple Pie' I have always thought as American as Pumpkin Pie would be better. I always associate pumpkins with our friends across the pond. When I was a child and when my children were wee there wasn't a pumpkin to be seen here. We had to dig out turnips for our 'Jack o' Lanterns'. Not the easiest task in the world. The shops and markets are full of pumpkins now of course. They are such a cheerful sight with their lovely autumny orange colour glowing. I bought two to carve for my grandchildren. Such an easy job to do and such smiling little faces the results produced. I was left with all the pumpkin innards and I have been dying to make pumpkin pie for years. I wanted an American to give me the recipe. I mean if you are going to do a thing you might as well do it right? One of the girls on Vi's pantry who is American kindly gave me her recipe. I can't tell you how gorgeous this is. For anyone who has never tasted it, it's like very spicy custard tart and is a perfect dessert. I have another bag of cooked and pureed pumpkin in the freezer and would like to make individual ones next.




A Few Notes

The recipe as you will see calls for canned pumpkin. A little wander round Google told me that 2 1/2 cups of cooked pureed pumpkin equals a 16 oz can.

I boiled the raw pumpkin for about half an hour and pureed it. This gave me approximately 2 1/2 cups per pumpkin.

I used double cream where it called for whipping cream

I used my own pastry recipe as I knew I would get into a mess with American measures here.

I used a tablespoon of mixed spice instead of the spices specified.

I also used marmalade instead of the apricot jam specified as that is what I had.

Recipe (with thanks to Caesersalad)


Ultimate Pumpkin Pie

Crust: (or, substitute your favorite crust)

1¼ cups all purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup chilled butter, cut into pieces
3 T. whipping cream

Filling:

¾ cup sugar
1 T. packed light brown sugar
1 T. cornstarch
2 t. ground cinnamon
¾ t. ground ginger
¼ t. (generous) salt
1-16 oz. can solid pack pumpkin
¾ cup whipping cream
½ cup sour cream
3 large eggs, beaten to blend

¼ cup apricot preserves

Method

For crust: Preheat oven to 350°. Blend first 3 ingredients in processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cream and process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 15 minutes.

Roll dough on floured surface to 14" round. Transfer dough to 9" glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1". Fold overhang under. Crimp crust. Freeze 15 minutes.

Line crust with foil (I use the non-stick foil with the non-stick side down), pressing firmly. Bake until sides are set, about 10 minutes. Remove foil. Bake crust until pale brown, about 10 minutes more. Set the crust aside and reduce the oven to 325°

For filling: Using a whisk, mix first 6 ingredients (sugar through salt) in bowl until no lumps remain. Blend in pumpkin, whipping cream, sour cream and eggs.

Spread preserves over crust; pour in filling. Bake until filling puffs at edges and center is almost set, about 55 minutes. Cool on rack.

When the pie is completely cool, cover and chill until cold. (Can be made one day ahead).

Caesersalad's Notes:

If the pie isn't completely cool when you cover it and refrigerate it, it will sweat. I do love that this pie is designed to be made a day ahead.

My pie takes longer than 55 minutes; so, plan accordingly and watch for the middle to just stop jiggling.

Do use a 9" or deep dish pie pan as this is a very large amount of filling.