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Pumpkin Pie

ajt on 2004-10-17T19:46:49

Once upon a time I lived in the USA. Other than my many excellent friends I have there, I can't say there is much about the place I miss. I don't think that the US is a bad place, rather it does not suite my taste as a place to live. As a place to visit, it was great, and in the years that I was there, I saw many of the fantastic sights it has to offer, and I do recommend camping in the south-western deserts.

There are only two things I miss about the US, neither technically native, but still they are both quite common. One is Mexican (&Tex-Mex) food, and the other is Pumpkin pie. Mexican is obviously Mexican rather than American, and the Pumpkin is a native of China and not North America, though it has been grown there since humans first arrived several thousand years ago.

It is now possible to get sufficient ingredients to make a half-decent Mexican meal in the UK, and Mexican style restaurants are starting to pop-up outside of London, so my Chili craving are now satisfied.

Today I made my first Pumpkin pie. Pumpkin is now common in the UK, and though very few people cook it - it's mostly for Halloween decoration, you can get quite nice eating Pumpkin. The recipe I found was dead simple, and the resultant pie is very nice. Not quite the same as ones I loved from New England, but good enough for now.

Have you tried...

Purdy on 2004-10-18T03:18:19

The Texas Embassy restaurant in London? It was quite good the last time I went (though that was years ago). I remember good food and free refills on soda! ;)

Re:Have you tried...

ajt on 2004-10-18T10:43:35

Saw it last time I was up in London. However most of the supermarkets now carry quite a range of "Old El Paso" brand and own brand Mexican/Tex-Mex stuff, so I'm quite happy to cook my own at home.

Interestingly the only two things I missed from the UK were tea, and Indian food - neither strictly native... There were lots of things I thought I'd miss, but in fact I didn't, or was able to get an alternative. If I drank more beer, I'd say I missed that, but as I don't it wasn't an issue.

Re:Have you tried...

drhyde on 2004-10-19T18:41:43

The one time that I've been there, the food was OK but not great, but the service was poor. I won't be going back.

Try this recipe from Cook's Illustrated sometime

hfb on 2004-10-18T10:55:54

Author(s): Stephen Schmidt

Pumpkin Pie

For the best of both worlds — pumpkin pie with smooth, delicious filling and a crisp crust — precook both before baking.

Challenge: A pumpkin pie is no more than a variation on custard pie, and it presents the baker with the same challenge -- making the crust crisp while developing a filling that is firm but still tender. After baking countless pumpkin pies, we found it necessary to take a threefold approach.

Solution: First, we began baking our crusts almost completely before filling them; that way we knew they started out crisp. Next, we made sure that both shell and filling were hot when we assembled the pie, so the custard could begin to firm up almost immediately rather than soaking into the pastry. Finally, we baked the pie quickly, in the bottom of the oven, where the bottom of the crust is exposed to the most intense heat. But baking at high heat has its perils -- when overbaked, custard will curdle, becoming grainy and watery. No matter what the heat level, however, curdling can be averted if the pie is taken out of the oven immediately once the center thickens to the point where it no longer sloshes but instead wiggles like gelatin when the pan is gently shaken. Residual heat will finish the cooking outside the oven. Furthermore, as with many older recipes, this recipe calls for heavy cream as well as milk and a goodly quantity of sugar. These ingredients not only improve the flavor, but they also protect the texture, since both fat and sugar serve to block the curdling reaction.

For Good Measure

Fresh pumpkin is so difficult to use that few modern cooks go down this road. Canned pumpkin is surprisingly good, and, given a little special treatment, it can be as tasty as fresh. One problem with canned pumpkin is its fibrous nature, which is easily corrected by pureeing it in a food processor. You can freshen the taste of canned pumpkin by cooking it with the sugar and spices before combining it with the custard ingredients. As the pumpkin simmers, you can actually smell the unwelcome canned odor give way to the sweet scent of fresh squash.

THE BEST PUMPKIN PIE

Serves 8

If you do not have a food processor, the pumpkin may be put through a food mill or forced through a fine sieve with the back of a wooden spoon. Alternatively, you can cook the pumpkin, sugar, and spices together before pureeing, then whir the mixture in a blender, adding enough of the cream called for in the recipe to permit the pumpkin to flow easily over the blades. In either case, heat the pumpkin with the (remaining) cream and milk, as indicated, then slowly whisk the mixture into the beaten eggs.

Flaky pastry can be successfully produced using any all-purpose flour, but a low-protein brand (such as Gold Medal) produces a more tender crust. Doughs made with low-protein flours are also easier to handle, and, perhaps most important, they are less likely to buckle and shrink out of shape during baking. If you wish to blend the fat and flour with your fingertips or with a pastry tool instead of using a machine, decrease the butter to six tablespoons and add two tablespoons of chilled vegetable shortening. The pie may be served slightly warm, chilled, or — my preference — at room temperature.

Flaky Pastry Shell

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, measured by dip-and-sweep
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4-inch pats
  • 3–3 1/2 tablespoons ice water

Spicy Pumpkin Filling

  • 2 cups (16 ounces) plain pumpkin puree, canned or fresh
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 4 large eggs

Brandied Whipped Cream

  • 1 1/3 cups heavy cream, cold
  • 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tablespoon brandy
  1. For pastry shell, mix flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter over dry ingredients; process until mixture resembles cornmeal, 7 to 12 seconds. Turn mixture into a medium-sized bowl.
  2. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of water over flour mixture. With blade side of a rubber spatula, cut mixture into little balls. Then press down on mixture with broad side of spatula so balls stick together in large clumps. If dough resists gathering, sprinkle remaining water over dry, crumbly patches and press a few more times. Form dough into a ball with your hands; wrap in plastic, then flatten into a 4-inch disk. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (Can be refrigerated for 2 days or, if sealed airtight in a plastic bag, frozen for up to 6 months.)
  3. Generously sprinkle a 2-foot square work area with flour. Remove dough from wrapping and place disk in center; dust top with flour. (If it has been chilled for more than 1 hour, let dough stand until it gives slightly when pressed, 5 to 10 minutes.) Roll dough in all directions, from center to edges, rotating a quarter turn and strewing flour underneath as necessary after each stroke. Flip disk over when it is 9 inches in diameter and continue to roll (but don’t rotate) in all directions, until it is 13 to 14 inches in diameter and just under 1/8-inch thick.
  4. Fold dough in quarters and place the corner in the center of a Pyrex pie pan measuring 9- to 9 1/2-inches across top. Carefully unfold dough to cover pan completely, with excess dough draped over pan lip. With one hand, pick up edges of dough; use index finger of other hand to press dough around pan bottom. Use your fingertips to press dough against pan walls. Trim dough overhanging the pan to an even 1/2-inch all around.
  5. Tuck overhanging dough back under itself so folded edge is flush with edge of pan lip. Press double layer of dough with your fingers to seal, then bend up at a 90-degree angle and flute by pressing thumb and index finger about 1/2-inch apart against outside edge of dough, then using index finger (or knuckle) of other hand to poke a dent through the space. Repeat procedure all the way around.
  6. Refrigerate for 20 minutes (or freeze for 5 minutes) to firm dough shell. Using a table fork, prick bottom and sides — including where they meet — at 1/2-inch intervals. Flatten a 12-inch square of aluminum foil inside shell, pressing it flush against corners, sides, and over rim. Prick foil bottom in about a dozen places with a fork. Chill shell for at least 30 minutes (preferably an hour or more), to allow dough to relax.
  7. Adjust an oven rack to lowest position, and heat oven to 400 degrees. (Start preparing filling when you put shell into oven.) Bake 15 minutes, pressing down on foil with mitt-protected hands to flatten any puffs. Remove foil and bake shell for 8 to 10 minutes longer, or until interior just begins to color.
  8. For filling, process first 7 ingredients in a food processor fitted with steel blade for 1 minute. Transfer pumpkin mixture to a 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring it to a sputtering simmer over medium-high heat. Cook pumpkin, stirring constantly, until thick and shiny, about 5 minutes. As soon as pie shell comes out of oven, whisk heavy cream and milk into pumpkin and bring to a bare simmer. Process eggs in food processor until whites and yolks are mixed, about 5 seconds. With motor running, slowly pour about half of hot pumpkin mixture through feed tube. Stop machine and scrape in remaining pumpkin. Process 30 seconds longer.
  9. Immediately pour warm filling into hot pie shell. (Ladle any excess filling into pie after it has baked for 5 minutes or so — by this time filling will have settled.) Bake until filling is puffed, dry-looking, and lightly cracked around edges, and center wiggles like gelatin when pie is gently shaken, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour.
  10. For whipped cream, beat cream at medium speed to soft peaks; gradually add confectioners’ sugar then brandy. Beat to stiff peaks. Accompany each wedge of pie with a dollop of whipped cream.

Re:Try this recipe from Cook's Illustrated sometim

ajt on 2004-10-18T13:47:02

The one I made was somewhat lower in fat, it came from a "Good Housekeeping" book, but I don't know if it's an old or modern, European or North American recipe.

I have no idea what heavy cream is, do you know the fat content? so I can find something equivalent. All too often recipes don't translate across continents, because certain ingredients are not available, or quite different. For example as a general rule you can't use the same ratio of fat to flour in a European recipe as a North American one, because of the quite different gluten levels in the wheat that the flour is made from.

  • Normal short-crust pastry to cover the base and sides of a 20cm flan tin
  • 450g fresh pumpkin, steamed for 20 minutes and then pureed in a blender
  • 250g granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 60ml milk
  • 10ml ground cinnamon
  • 10ml ground ginger
  • 5ml ground nutmeg (Actually I added much more of this and less cinnamon, but that's because my better half doesn't like cinnamon)

Basically you mix all the filling in a big mixing bowl, I did it nice and fast to get air into the mixture, then pour into the pastry lined flan tin. You can scatter a little flour on top of the pastry to stop it going soggy during baking.

Bake in a hot oven 220C for 15 minutes, then lower to 180C for 20-30 minutes until it looks cooked. Our oven is a very fast fan-assisted oven, so I actually baked it at 160C for 25 minutes.

We don't like cream, so we ate it as is, but you could try yoghurt if you wanted a topping.

Heavy cream

vsergu on 2004-10-18T18:22:36

According to this list of dairy products, heavy cream is at least 36% fat.

Re:Heavy cream

ajt on 2004-10-18T19:26:38

Ah, most useful. So US heavy cream, is a tad lower in fat than British double cream. I don't know if it actually needs the cream, it's seems to taste okay without it.

Re:Heavy cream

vsergu on 2004-10-18T19:40:22

The odd thing is that heavy cream is less dense than light cream, because of its greater fat content.

Re:Try this recipe from Cook's Illustrated sometim

dug on 2004-10-18T14:30:50

Ahh, Cook's Illustrated. The food magazine for geeks {grin}. I've been looking for a good pumpkin pie recipe and even think to look at their site. I really need to get around to ordering all of the back issues that I missed before I subscribed.

Thanks!

-- Douglas Hunter

Re:Try this recipe from Cook's Illustrated sometim

drhyde on 2004-10-19T18:43:38

I take it you're aware of Cooking For Engineers?