Spiced Pumpkin Pie

It’s that time of year again where we go sugar and pumpkin crazy and rightly so. However rather than butchering a perfectly edible pumpkin, with the traditional triangle eyes and jiggered teeth, cook with it. This pie is spiced with flavours I associate with Halloween and bonfire night; I’m talking about the dark brown sugar, ginger and cinnamon associated with parkin, the caramel surrounding a toffee apple and the autumnal smell of the roasted pumpkin seeds. Using the short crust I prepared earlier on the blog, the pie has a crumbly texture with smooth filling topped with a crunchy, nutty top. You need to stop reading this dragged out prologue and get the oven on and start making this pie!

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  What you need:

  • 500 g of pumpkin
  • 200 ml of cream
  • 75 g of dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1tsp of ground cinnamon 
  • 2 inch of stem ginger in syrup
  • ¼ of nutmeg
  • 300 g of pre made short crust pastry
  • 100 g of caster sugar

  
  

  How to make it:

  1. Chop up your pumpkin into large chunks and place in a 180^oC oven for 20 - 30 minutes until it starts taking on some golden colours.  Meanwhile start work on your pumpkin seed praline by scooping out the pumpkin seeds and washing them to separate them from the fibrous flesh. Pat dry and place the seeds in the oven for 20 minutes, until they start smelling nutty and just begin to take on a golden colour. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
  2. While various components of the pumpkin are roasting away roll out your pastry –you want it to be 1-1.5 cm thick so you might have to let it warm up slightly so you can roll it out. Place the pastry in a 22 cm flan tin (one where the bottom pushes out is best) pricking the pastry with a fork all over. Once pricked place some tin foil /greaseproof paper on top and then some baking beans / dry rice / lentils to ensure the pastry stays flat when blind baking. Place the pastry in a 180 ^oC oven for 20 minutes.
  3. While the pastry is cooking make the pie filling. In a saucepan bring all the spices, dark brown sugar and cream to a simmer and remove from the heat and let that cool. Once cooled to an ambient temperature whisk together 3 beaten eggs and add to the cream spiced mixture. Finally using a blender blitz the cooled roasted pumpkin and creamy egg mixture together. Once smooth pour into your cooled pastry case and cook for 30 - 40 minutes at 170^oC. The top of the pie should have a golden colour while still retaining a wobble in the centre.
  4. Finish the pie by making a caramel, heating the caster sugar with 5 tbsp of water in a non-stick frying pan – do not stir the sugar ever! Stirring will prevent a caramel from forming and you’ll just end up with a pan full of crystallised sugar. Simply swirl the pan so all the sugar eventually dissolves and melts. Once a golden caramel has formed throw in your roasted seeds and mix them in quickly with a spatula. After all the seeds have been coated with caramel pour the molten mix onto some greaseproof paper and allow the caramel to cool and harden. Once the caramel has set break it up into small pieces and scatter them on your pie.

  -As with all sweet pies pour some cream on and stuff it in your face. Also sprinkle some sea salt on your molten caramel for an extra hit of contrasting flavour.