New take on pumpkin pie
Friday, 25 November 2011 00:00
When the Pilgrim Father’s celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time in the fall of 1622, just about a year after they landed at Plymouth Rock in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, they didn’t eat pumpkin pie apparently, but the feast, which was spread over a week period, consisted of duck, venison, corn on the cob, onions, shellfish and squash.Pumpkin pie is very much a Thanksgiving dish, but it did not originate in America. The pumpkin, indigenous to North America, found its way to France and then to Tudor England, where it was first baked into a pie. The pumpkin subsequently travelled across the Atlantic with the Pilgrim Father’s, and while its popularity waned in England, it became the quintessential American dessert, served at Halloween and Thanksgiving.
The sugar pie pumpkin is virtually impossible to get in South Africa, so when I baked a pumpkin pie with my elder daughter, Robyn, in Utah last week, I decided to use butternut squash, since it is readily available.
Before you turn your nose up at the thought of a butternut pie, don’t. The traditional blend of spices added to the pie makes it an absolutely delicious dessert. Son-in-law Adam, who is something of a pumpkin pie aficionado, voted it great, and he ought to know: he’s had it at virtually every Thanksgiving dinner.
In America these days, the pumpkin pie is usually made from prepared ingredients: a can of cooked pumpkin, a pumpkin spice mix, and a pre-baked pie crust. All you need do is assemble the pie, bake it and eat it.
No such luck in South Africa, so I made it the hard way, which turned out to be surprisingly easy.
After much deliberation, I took a recipe from American TV chef, Bobby
Flay and modified it to suit South African conditions.
Ingredients, selection and preparation
Crust- 1.5cups crushed digestive biscuits: Break them into largish chunks then chop into fine crumbs in a food processor.
- 6 tbs melted butter
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1kg butternut squash: pick one that is as dark as possible, to get that really deep orange, sweet flesh. Peel it, scoop out all the seeds and the stringy bits and cut it into blocks.
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 3 tbs melted butter
- 500 ml cream
- 1¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Method
Heat the oven to 180 deg C. Set the butternut to steam for 30 minutes or until it is soft. Drain it and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, combine the crust ingredients in a food processor and pulse until mixed, with a texture like wet sand. If you pinch some between your fingers, it should just stick together.
Butter a 24cm pie dish, and spread the crust mixture evenly on the bottom and sides of the dish.
Bake in mid-oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool.
Once the butternut is lukewarm puree it with a stab blender, or in a food processor.
Pre-heat the oven to 150 deg C. Whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugars in a bowl.
Add 1½ cups of pumpkin puree, the cream, spices, salt, butter and vanilla essence, and mix thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into the pie crust, and bake it in mid oven for about 1½ hours or until it has set firm. Set the pie aside to cool down completely.
Serve with the balance of the cream, whipped into soft peaks, and your favourite tea.
Enjoy. Oh and happy Thanksgiving for tomorrow – Thursday November 24.
Written by Norman McFarlane You are reading New take on pumpkin pie articles
