Larger Families Chatter September 07

[castle]

OK girls...give it a go. I haven't made it for ages but it's yummo. LOL, I hope I don't get in trouble for a very long post Just take note, the instructions for making the puree give you enough puree for 2 pies, but the recipe itself is for ONE pie.

Pumpkin Pie:

For the puree: about 2.5-3 kg pumpkin to yield 4 cups of puree, enough for 2 pies

Hack the pumpkin into big pieces. Don’t peel it, but scrape out all the stringy pulp. Bake/roast the pumpkin in the oven, covered, at about 150º for at least 1.5 hours until soft. You don’t want it to brown, which is why it should be covered. I think I may have microwaved it first.
Scrape the pumpkin off the rind and puree it or force it through a sieve. The puree should be fairly firm. If it seems loose and watery, drain it through cheesecloth with a weight on it. (I have never had to do this.)

Pie crust: should be in a deep pan, about 9” round (22.5 cm). You can use a frozen premade flan case if you like. It should NOT be puff pastry. The pie has a bottom crust only.
Ingredients for one pie:

2-3 large eggs (3 eggs: soft and custardy filling, 2 eggs: firmer filling)
2 cups pumpkin puree
¾ cup milk
¾ cup cream
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp allspice
½ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 190º. WARM the pastry crust in the oven. This is important: it should be hot to the touch. It does not have to blind bake first, but it has to be hot in order to cook the filling and pastry properly. Just pop it in the oven while you are whisking the filling together.

Whisk the eggs together. Add the pumpkin puree and all the other ingredients. Whisk together thoroughly until it is very smooth and all the eggs and cream are well mixed in.
The mixture should be at room temperature or slightly warm. Pour it into the HOT pastry. Bake about 35-45 minutes. The centre of the filling should be set, but quivery, like jelly. Let the pie cool completely on a rack.
It is served cold or at room temperature but never hot!