Pumpkin pie
The best pumpkin pie with an orange pastry crust
Equipment
- 22cm (9 inch) tart tin
Ingredients
Pastry
- 125 g butter softened
- 50 g caster sugar
- 50 g egg
- 200 g plain flour
- 2 g salt
- 1 orange zest
Filling
- 450 g pumpkin purée unsweetened (see notes section below)
- 15 g plain flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- 300 g whipping cream (35% fat)
- 120 g soft brown sugar
- 150 g egg
Pumpkin purée
- 1.1 kg butternut squash (or pumpkin or squash of your choice) cleaned weight
Instructions
- Clean the butternut squash and cut into 2-3 cm cubes.
- Steam for 20-30 minutes until soft
- Blend in a blender until a purée mixture is created. You may need to pass it through a sieve for a finer finish.
- Weigh out 450g and set aside.
- Put the butter, caster sugar and orange zest into stand mixer bowl (fitted with a paddle attachment) and briefly cream together for a couple of minutes. Or you can mix this by hand or with a hand beater.
- Weigh the eggs into a jug and whisk.
- With the stand mixing running add the egg in small inclusions to the creamed mixture, beating well between each addition so it is fully combined before adding the next amount.
- Scrape down sides of bowl and whisk again until fully combined.
- Sieve flour & salt and pour it into the butter mixture in one go.
- On a slow speed, incorporate flour working dough into a ball.
- Once fully mixed, empty the dough onto a piece of cling film.
- Flatten the dough into a disc approx. 2cm thick and wrap in the cling film. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This is to rest the dough but also to firm it up enough to roll it out otherwise it will be too soft.
- Lightly grease the tart tin if it isn’t non-stick.
- After cooling the pastry, remove from the fridge and gently knead if necessary to make it pliable and easier to roll out.
- Roll out the pastry and if it gets too soft, refrigerate for 5 mins before continuing.
- Line the tin with the pastry allowing some pastry to overhang and dock lightly with a fork without piercing the pastry. Refrigerate for 15 mins.
- Preheat the oven to 175C.
- Use the offcuts of pastry to make shapes to decorate the tart or bake them off into delicious biscuits.
- Remove the lined pastry tin from the fridge.
- Line the pastry case with either a double layer of commercial grade cling film or parchment paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15-20 mins or until the pastry edges are lightly golden and the base is semi dry.
- Remove beans and put the pastry case back in the oven to bake for another 5-10 mins or until the pastry is slightly golden on the base and completely dry.
- Remove from the oven and baste lightly with egg wash returning to the oven for another minute or 2 for it to fully dry.
- Remove again from the oven and gently trim the top of the pastry case while it is still hot. Set aside. Turn the oven down to 150C.
- Put the pumpkin purée, flour, spice and sugar into a bowl and whisk until combined and no lumps are in the flour.
- Add the cream and eggs and whisk lightly on a low speed until just combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure all the mixture is incorporated. You don’t want to whisk on a high speed because this incorporates a lot of air and it will cause your tart to bubble in baking and you won’t have a nice smooth top.
- Pour the filling into the pastry case until it is half full. Then put the tart in the oven and continue to fill the tart 2-3 mm from the top. This prevents spilling.
- Bake the tart for approx. 45 mins until the edges of the filling can be seen to be set and starting to rise a little but the middle still has a wobble. If you have a digital thermometer, the filling should be about 75-78C.
- Remove from the oven and leave to fully cool in the tin.
- Demould the tart and place on a serving plate. Decorate with pastry shapes if required e.g. leaves.
Notes
- For the pumpkin purée, you can use tinned or you can make your own. I made my own with butternut squash because I find the flesh firmer and less watery than other pumpkins or squashes and it has a great nutty flavour.
- I made a big batch of purée – the effort of going into making it is worth doubling up and freezing what you don’t need or putting the remainder into soup perhaps. I have tried making the purée by steaming and by baking. I’ve described both below but I prefer the steaming option. I initially thought it would create too much moisture in the purée but it was absolutely fine.
- Steaming: I used 1.85kg butternut (uncleaned weight) which then weighed 1.1 kg once cleaned. I steamed it for about 20 mins. The cooked weight was approximately 820g. I puréed it in an upright blender.
- Baking: I used 2 x 1.4kg butternuts (uncleaned weight) which then weighed 1.7kg once cleaned. I baked them in the oven at 160C on lightly oiled baking trays for about 35 mins, giving them a mix half way through baking. Once cooked I blended it as per the method for steaming.
- You may also need to put the purée through a sieve if you only have a food processor because it doesn’t achieve as fine a finish as an upright blender.
- Refrigerate if not serving immediately.
- This tart will freeze. If freezing it whole, I would first freeze it uncovered and then once frozen, wrap in cling film or foil. When ready to use, remove from the freezer. Unwrap and place in a sealed container and leave in the fridge overnight to defrost slowly. You could also just leave the wrapping loosely around the pie if you don’t have a container. The idea is to create a mini atmosphere around the tart as it defrosts. This controls the temperature change; too great a change too quickly could cause the tart filling structure to break down and cause ‘weeping’.