Wednesday 28 October 2009

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.




17 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

That pie looks fabulous! One of my favorite pumpkin-based treats!

Cheers,

Rosa

Nickki said...

Your pumpkin pie looks so delicious Granny, I've never made one but I'm very very tempted to try it now! x

Lucie said...

This looks delicious! I think you should alter your name from Granny to Supergran! :) Thanks for your messages on my blog xx

Mini Baker said...

You're the first one of the blogs I follow to post a pumpkin pie recipe! THANK GOODNESS you did! This looks delightful, I'm counting down the days til Thanksgiving!
-Mini Baker

Gloria Baker said...

This look absolutely georgeous Brenda, I really love pumpkin pie!!! xoxoxo gloria

Grannymar said...

I have never tasted pumpkin pie. This one looks delicious. I know Elly uses pumpkin for pies and soup.

Coby said...

Granny, I always think of Apple Pie as English, but agree that Pumpkin Pie screams the 'stars and stripes':) Thanks for the hint on converting a tinned quantity to fresh, I haven't even seen tinned pumpkin here in Aus! The pie sounds fabulous and perfect for this time of year (lol at least where you are;)).

Rhyleysgranny said...

Rosa Thank you. It is a lovely treat isn't it?

Nikki Give it a go. It is easy and works well.

Lucie I love the Supergran LOL

Minibaker How odd it seems to be giving a pumpkin pie recipe to an American LOL x

Gloria thank you. It is delicious isn't it?

Grannymar You could eat this if you replaced the cream with the dairy free alternatives you get for cream.

Coby I have never seen canned pumpkin either. Pumpkins are a fairly recent thing in this part of the world. There is obviously a market for them as they are everywhere now at this time of the year. I suspect most are carved and the innards not used Too much waste for me LOL x

Joie de vivre said...

Granny, I think you are giving Americans too much credit (with the wanting an official recipe from an official American). I think most Americans just get the can of pumpkin pie filling and slap it into a pre-made pie crust. I know, it's a tragedy. Your way is definitely the way to do it right!

La Bella Cooks said...

I agree with you totally, it should be As American As Pumpkin Pie! It is my absolute favorite and yours has my mouth watering.

Anonymous said...

This looks beautiful, and I love the fact you went for an authentic recipe.

Rosie of BooksAndBakes

Sarah said...

I LOVE pumpkins! They are so versatile. I'm very inspired to make this one now. Sweet pumpkin pie is a great one for this time of year. Thanks for this lovely post.

Karine said...

Your pumpkin pie sounds creamy and delicious! Thanks for sharing :)

Gloria Baker said...

Dear Brena I stopping by to ask you have are you? huggss! gloria

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I think you might be right! We can actually find apple pies everywhere, but pumpkin pie is sooooooo American! Yours looks delicious :)

Anna's kitchen table said...

That looks really good Brenda! I've made pumpkin pie in the past, but use the recipe on the back of the libby tin LOL. How nice to have a genuine USA recipe :-)

Tiny bakery said...

your blog is so amazing!!!
a lot of interesting recipe ^^


now i'm looking for pumpkin pie recipe
yours is sound good!!
can'y wait to try it!!