Pumpkin Pie

The amount of love shown for the humble pumpkin, by food bloggers, during the autumn months, is really rather impressive. My eyes have been opened completely to the sheer number of things one is able to do with a pumpkin. In fact, I’d quite happily suggest that, although I’ve played it fairly safe, there really is very little limit imposed upon one’s creative spirit when attempting to make the most of one’s vast orange fruit. Having said that, and in spite of my new found love for the pumpkin, I fear this shall be my final pumpkin based recipe of the year. The main reason for this is that fact that Frugal still doesn’t have a kitchen. By the time the kitchen has been installed Wales shall be firmly in the long, harsh grips of winter, perhaps we already are.

Something I’m a little unsure about is why I called this a ‘pumpkin pie’. Strictly speaking, this is a pumpkin tart, or at least that is the case in Britain. I think it must be a combination of Delia’s treason, for she wrote the recipe, and the influence of so many American readers that makes me even the tiniest bit comfortable with this. Soon pavements will have become sidewalks; rubbish, garbage; a lead, a leash; and worst of all you’ll have me swapping the names of biscuits and scones. Not only this, but WordPress seems to want to constantly remove the letter ‘u’ from every word in the English language. Apparently favourable should be spelt favorable and colour should be cut down to color. Don’t even get me started on the absurdity of the US spelling of aluminium. Of course, I jest, but I sometimes do find myself making little mistakes, from a British perspective, which can largely be accounted for by my reading of so many American food blogs.

As with my other tarts I must point you in the direction of this post for the pastry recipe. I urge you to make the pastry at home, since it will turn out a lot better and will provide you a glowing satisfaction. Once again, I apologise that you must venture elsewhere for a pastry recipe, but including it each time would have killed me a little bit inside.

Pumpkin Pie

Makes 1 pumpkin pie, 9 inches in diameter

Ingredients:

• Short-crust pastry according to my own recipe

• 450g pumpkin flesh

• 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

• 1 tbsp black treacle

• 75g soft dark brown sugar

• 1tsp ground cinnamon

• ½ tsp ground nutmeg

• ½ tsp ground allspice

• ½ tsp ground cloves

• ½ tsp ground ginger

• 275ml double cream

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Cook the pumpkin flesh in a lidded saucepan with a little water for about 15 minutes. Blend the resultant stewed pumpkin in a food processor.

2. Gently whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Pour the black treacle into a saucepan before adding the sugar, spices and cream. Bring this to a simmer and lightly whisk in order to bring it all together. Pour this mixture over the eggs, add the pumpkin puree and whisk once more in order to give the filling a uniform consistency.

3. Pour three quarters of the filling into the already blind-baked pastry case, return the case to the oven before adding the rest of the filling. This will avoid spillages. Bake for 35-40 minutes, by which time it will have set, but still have a slight wobble in the centre. If it has cracked it has been slightly overcooked. Leave to cool for a couple of hours, serve chilled with an optional scoop of crème fraîche.

Cost: The money spent on making this entire pie (tart) should come to no more than around £2.20. This includes the cost of making the pastry. Since tarts can be counted among the most decadent desserts, and sell for a pretty penny in cafes and restaurants, I think this price is one to be very pleased about indeed.