Pumpkin Pie in Process

The guests liked the pumpkin pie so much they licked up every last crumb and wanted the recipe.

 

Short Crust Pasty

 

1 1/4 cups/8.5 oz./245g flour

1/2 tsp./2,5g salt

2 tsp./10g sugar

Grated zest of 1 orange

3 T./45ml unsalted butter, very cold and diced tiny

2 T. + 1 tsp./35ml lard, very cold and diced tiny

3-4 T./45-60ml icy cold water

 

Combine flour, salt, sugar and zest in a bowl previously set in the freezer to chill. Use a fork that has alaso been frozen. Add butter and lard and toss well. Use the chilled fork to combine the dry and fat ingredients until the fat is broken up and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add icy cold water until you can form a ball of dough. (The amount depends osn the weather.)

 

Chill your hands in icy cold water and gather up the dough. Pat it into a smooth disk, handling it as little as possible to prevent toughness. Chill.

 

Sprinkle flour on a work surface and flour the rolling pin. Roll the dough out in a circle big enough to lay in the pie pan and bring up the sides. Press the dough into the pan and cut the excess off the edges. Crimp the edges decoratively.

 

Generously butter a sheet of foil and lay it in the crust. Top with pie weights or dry beans to prevent puffing. Bake in a hot oven (450 F) 10-12 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven, remove weights and foil and cool on a rack.

 

 

Pumpkin Pie

 

1 1/2 lbs./775g peeled sweet pumpkin pieces

1 cup/240ml water

1 tsp./5ml ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp./2,5ml ground dried ginger 1/2 inch/1cm fresh gingerroot, finely minced

1/2 tsp./2,5ml ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp./2,5ml ground cloves or 1 tsp./5ml whole cloves

 

3/4 cup/90ml sugar or Splenda

3 large eggs, well beaten

1 cup + 1 T./250ml half-and-half (or rich milk 20% fat)

 

Put the pumpkin pieces and water in a heavy-bottomed pot. If you have to use any of the spices whole rather than ground, place them in a tea ball and add to the pot. Set the ground spices aside. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes or until very tender. Allow water to be consumed but do not allow pumpkin to scorch; you need to check for the need to add any additional splash of water to the pot.

 

Remove tea ball of whole spices from pot and allow to drain into a deep mixing bowl. Thoroughly mash pumpkin. Remove tea ball from bowl and scrape in mashed pumpkin. Beat in remaining ingredients and form a smooth mixture. Pour into cooled pie shell. Bake in a moderate oven (375 F) for 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

 

Remove from oven and set on a rack to cool.

 

Serve with cream, preferably whipped.

 

 

 

Done