Pumpkin Pie

 
I have never made a pumpkin pie before. It is not something that is popular on this side of the world. We have pumpkin dishes but it's not something that people would make into a dessert here, which is strange because we use yam and sweet potato which have a similar texture to pumpkin in our local dessert, bubur cha cha. 

This pumpkin pie is super easy to make and I was surprised how delicious it turned out even though it's my first time making a pumpkin pie.

I love the creamy and sweet taste of pumpkin. It tastes great whether as a savoury dish or made into a dessert.

Though pumpkin pie is commonly eaten during Thanksgiving in North America, it would make a nice Christmas dessert as well. Don't you think  cinnamon and ginger taste very christmassy?

Pumpkin Pie

Although pumpkin pie is widely eaten in USA, the first pumpkin pie recipe was found in an English cook book. In the early days, people made pumpkin pies by filling a hollowed-out pumpkin with cream, eggs, spices and honey and cooking it over wood fire. With its soft, creamy and spiced pumpkin filling and all butter pastry crust, this pie is a scrumptious dessert for the holiday.

Preparation time: 40 minutes + 1 day (to chill dough)
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Utensils: 8" pie pan

Makes one 8" pie

Level of difficulty: *

Pastry
290g AP flour, sifted
60g icing sugar, sifted
220g butter, cold from the fridge and cut into cubes
1 egg yolk

Pumpkin Filling
450g pumpkin, peeled, cut and pureed
75g caster sugar
75g brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 egg
150ml heavy cream
squeeze of lemon juice

Method
1. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, butter and egg yolk. Once the ingredients have more or less combined, knead it into a dough. The dough will be soft and pliable. Wrap dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

2. Place the pumpkin and sugars in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, constantly stirring to avoid the bottom from getting burnt. The puree should now be darker a shade of orange and a bit caramelized. Add the cinnamon and ginger and stir to evenly distribute the spices in the mixture. Your kitchen will start to smell like Christmas is around the corner.

3. In a measuring cup, add the cream and beat in the egg. Squeeze the lemon juice into the cream mixture. Add the cream mixture into the pumpkin puree and continue stirring. Cook until mixture is thick. 

4. Remove the dough 30 minutes before using. Preheat the oven at 170C.

5. Press the soften dough evenly into an 8" pie pan. Pierce dough with fork to prevent pastry from puffing while baking. Roll out the excess dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out stars, Christmas trees, angels or any other Christmassy shapes. This cut out pie pastry will be used to decorate the top of the pie.

6. Bake the pie crust and cut out shapes for 20 minutes or until pie crust is golden brown around the edges but still pale inside. You don't want it too brown as it will go through a second round of baking. Remove the pie crust and cut out shapes once done. Set aside the cut out shapes.

7. Pour the pumpkin puree into the half-baked pie crust and bake pie for 40 minutes. The filling will be hard around the edges but jiggly in the center. Remove from oven. Decorate top of pie with cut out shapes and let cool. The filling will harden up once the pie is cooled.

8. Cut into wedges and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

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You don't necessarily have to wait for the holidays to bake this since pumpkins are available all year round here. 

The soft and creamy filling is delicious with the crumbly pastry. For an extra creamy experience, serve with a glass of cold milk.

Happy baking! xx :)