Pumpkin Pie

I know Thanksgiving is over and many of you have already made Pumpkin Pie and shifted the focus to making some great Christmas cookies and goodies for gifting. I know I have not been able to put anything on the blog for a long time as I was busy with loads of work and was not having the right temperament to write anything on this space. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in India, but who stops one from celebrating. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to complete Thanksgiving, here's the Pumpkin Pie recipe that I recently made.

This was my first ever encounter with pumpkin, I have never made anything with pumpkin ever before in my life nor have I tasted anything made out of pumpkin. Hence I was very excited, enthusiastic and at the same time suspicious while trying this pie. How's will it come out? Will I and everybody else like it? Am I doing it right? Questions...questions...that was all on my mind while baking for the first time.

I prepared the Homemade Pumpkin Puree a day before and prepared the pie the next day. I started with preparing the pastry crust for the pie, toasted pecans for the perfect pie for Thanksgiving, prepared the pecan biscuit layer, pumpkin pie filling, put it all together in the pie dish. And God, how curious I was all the time during the pie was baking to see the results and taste my first Pumpkin Pie.

As the baking time got over and I had a final look at the pie, it was amazing...or I would say love at first sight! Like a little girl, I couldn't wait to let the pie come to room temperature and cut it's first slice. This was good! Really good!

As it turn out, everybody loved it. Now, I have to give you all the pumpkin recipe to try. To come to think of it, whats your favorite Thanksgiving/Pumpkin recipe? Do share with me your favorite recipes to try.

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Pumpkin Pie:

Preparation Time: 2 hours, divided

Baking Time: 45-55 minutes

Makes one 9 inch pie.

Recipe adapted from: www.eatmeblog.com

Here's whats you would need to make Pumpkin Pie:

Pastry Crust:

1 1/4 cups (175 gms) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (115 gms) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice cold water

Pecan and Gingersnap Layer: (optional)

1/4 cup (25 gms) pecans, toasted and ground

1/4 cup (25 gms) crushed gingersnap cookies

Pumpkin Filling:

3 large eggs

1 - 15 ounce can (425 gms) homemade roasted pumpkin puree

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup (110 gms) light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

Maple Whipped Cream:

1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Here's how you can make it:

I. Short Crust Pastry: 

• In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. 
• Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds).
• Add 1/8 cup (about 2 tbsps) water at first and process just until the dough holds together when pinched. If required, add the remaining water.
• Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. 
• Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour. 
• After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 13 inch (33 cm) circle, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll to avoid dough to stick on the counter.
• Fold the dough in half and gently transfer to a 9 inch (23 cm) pie pan. Trim the pastry to the edge of the pie pan. 
• Refrigerate the pastry, covered with plastic wrap, for about 30 minutes.

II. Pecan Gingersnap Layer: 

• Toast pecans in a 350 degree F (180 degree C) oven for 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. 
• Cool and then place the pecans, along with the gingersnap cookies, in a food processor and process until finely ground. 
• Press this mixture evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the unbaked pie crust. 
• Cover and return the pastry to the refrigerator while you make the pumpkin filling.

Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the rack in bottom third of the oven.

III. Make the Pumpkin Filling: 

• In a large bowl lightly whisk the eggs. 
• Add all the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. 
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and place on a large baking pan to catch any spills. 
• Bake the pie for about 45-55 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust has browned (the center will still look wet). (A knife inserted about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from side of pan will come out almost clean.)

Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature with maple whipped cream. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

IV. Make the Maple Whipped Cream: 

• Place the heavy whipping cream and maple syrup in bowl of your electric mixer. 
• With the whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft peaks form.

Sending this recipe to verygoodrecipes.com for Thanksgiving Challenge.

Hope you would also enjoy making this recipe as much as I did.

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Happy Baking!

DIY: Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Puree

I really got carried away seeing all the pumpkin delights all over the internet, blogosphere, pinterest i.e. almost everywhere you look around on the netsphere at this time of the year. I have never made or eaten anything which has pumpkin in it. But looking at these pumpkin creations I got myself buying my first pumpkin ever and waiting to make something delightful out of that.

For this reason, I love the fact that I have a blog which gives me such adventures and I often find myself in unfamiliar territory experimenting with some never tried ingredients, experimenting some never tried tastes and also knowing different cultures, cuisines. This is all so incredible.

Here in India, we don't get canned pumpkin puree. But that did not lower my spirits in any manner whatsoever. Hence, this is gonna be another DIY project from scratch and I am excited!

There are different ways to prepare pumpkin puree at home. For my first, I prepared the pumpkin puree by roasting the pumpkin. It's great to make this pumpkin puree recipe ahead and freeze so that you’ll have plenty on hand to use in any pumpkin delight you would like to make.

As a general rule, 3 pounds of fresh pumpkin will yield about 3 cups of mashed and cooked pumpkin.

Roasted Pumpkin Puree:

Here's what you would need to make Roasted Pumpkin Puree:

1.5 Kg. Pumpkin
Olive oil 1 cup water
(Source: thegreendaily.com)

Here's how you can make Roasted Pumpkin Puree:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Rinse the pumpkin under cool water to rid the skin of any residual dirt and dry well with a clean towel.

3. Cut the pumpkin in half. Remove the seeds and stringy fibers with a metal spoon or ice cream scoop. Save the seeds for toasting, if you like, and discard the innards.

4. Rub the cut surfaces with oil. Place them, cut side down, in a roasting pan and add 1 cup of water to the pan.

5. Bake in the oven until the flesh is tender when pierced with a knife. This takes approximately 90 minutes.

6. When tender, remove the pumpkin halves from the oven and place on a flat surface to cool.

7. Once cool enough to handle, but not cold, scoop out the pumpkin flesh.

8. Puree the pumpkin in a food processor or with a hand held blender. 

9. Pumpkin flesh holds a lot of moisture. Line a sieve or fine mesh colander with paper towel or a coffee filter and set over a deep bowl. Let drain for about 2 hours and stir occasionally.

To Freeze:

Once the puree has cooled entirely, place in freezer containers or ice cube trays. Leave some room at the top (headspace) of the containers or individual ice cube compartments. Label, date and freeze the puree for future use.