Country Pumpkin Pie
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 6-8
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This pumpkin pie is a sweet savoury treat wrapped in a coconut crust.
Ingredients
Filling
1 kg raw pumpkin, cubed
2 tsp (10 ml) cinnamon
125 g butter
1 C (250 ml) brown sugar
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla essence
3 eggs
1 C (250 ml) flour
1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
1 tsp (5 ml) salt
Base
300 g Tennis biscuits
90 g butter, melted
1 tsp (5 ml) cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2,5 ml) allspice
Toppings
250 g streaky bacon
small bag of caramelised nuts or a small bar of nut brittle, crushed
good quality vanilla ice cream
Instructions
For the Filling
Place the pumpkin in a saucepan of salted water. Boil under soft and then drain.
Mash or blitz the pumpkin – you want it to be as smooth as possible. Scoop the pumpkin into a sieve and leave to drain until almost all the moisture has run out – at least 2 hours, longer if possible (even overnight will work).
Stir the pumpkin occasionally. You can place a small plate on top of the pumpkin to add some weight. Once well drained, stir in the cinnamon.
Base
Blitz the biscuits in the food processor to a fine crumb. Stir in the melted butter and spices and mix to combine.
Pour two-thirds of the crumbled mixture into your pie tin (20 cm springform pan) and gently press down to create an even base.
Use the remaining third to build up the sides of the pie crust until you reach the lip of the pie dish.
Place your pie dish into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
Filling cont.
Set the oven to 180 ºC.
In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the mixer, add the second egg and vanilla and continue to mix.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter while the machine is running. Once combined you should have a smooth batter.
Carefully pour the batter into your chilled pie dish and put into the oven. Bake the pie for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes your pie should be done.
The centre will remain a little jiggly as you remove it but this will set as it cools. Let the pie cool completely in the tin before releasing the spring.
Toppings
In a large frying pan, fry the bacon over a low heat until very crispy.
Drain the bacon on kitchen towel. Break the bacon pieces into shards and set aside.
Crush the caramelised nuts/brittle to a fine crumble.
Serve a slice of pie with a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream, topped with shards of bacon and a sprinkling of nut crumble.
Notes
We opted to create a quite a thick crust as we love the crunch factor and the rustic look – create yours to your preference.
