Pumpkin Pie

Did you get into a bit of this last week?

We did, and if you have a glut of spooky pumpkins lying around, this pumpkin pie is an excellent way to put them to use. 

I have embraced Halloween baking in recent years for my cafes with gingerbread skeletons, ghosts and the like, but this year was our first time trick or treating. Mr LP and I didn't grow up with it, having no American connections, so we were a bit clueless! Luckily, it all worked out when we fell in behind a band of mini-vampires and witches. We told the kids to be polite and we gave them a joke to tell, should they get asked for a trick. It's a personal favourite: What's the first thing witches learn at school? Spelling.

We didn't actually decorate our house. We just mooched off the neighbours for a couple of blocks, who were all very nice, and I got to sticky beak inside their gardens and doorways which I think was the best part.

The recipe is from Simmone Logue's cookbook, In The Kitchen, which has been a great addition to my cooking library - from fresh Asian inspired salads to French patisserie, it covers the spectrum of her delicious range of wholesome food. I have been a fan since her early days in Balmain so it's a real treat to be able to cook her recipes at home.

Pumpkin Pie

Serves 8-10

(Recipe adapted from In The Kitchen by Simmone Logue*)

500g ginger nut biscuits (appx 2 packets)

200g butter, melted

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Double cream, to serve

Nutmeg and icing sugar for dusting

Maple syrup, to serve

Filling:

185g brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

375g (1 1/2 cups) cooked, puréed pumpkin

300ml thickened cream, whipped to light peaks

Preheat oven to 180C.

Grease the base and sides of a 26cm loose-based tart tin.

Blitz biscuits and coconut in a food processor and blitz until resembling sand. Add melted butter and blitz until combined. Press the mixture evenly over the base and up the sides of prepared tart tin. 

Bake for 10 mins. Remove from oven and set aside.

Reduce the oven temp to 160C.

Place eggs, sugar and spices into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until combined. Gently fold in the pumpkin and the whipped cream.

Pour the mixture into the tart shell and bake for 1 hour or until set.

Leave to cool completely.

Before serving, dust the tart with nutmeg and icing sugar, then drizzle liberally with maple syrup. To cut the tart, run a sharp knife under hot water to warm the blade, then wipe with a tea towel and slice. This will give a clean slice and help with the crisp base.

Plate up with generous dollops of double cream.

*The main difference is Simmone uses cloves and I prefer not to use cloves ever. Also, she uses fresh nutmeg but I found the ground version in the tart just as good.