Pumpkin Pie

So … what’s an Aussie girl doing making a pumpkin pie in November?

Well, my biggest boy is in Year 3 at school. A big focus for them in their curriculum is ‘Celebrations’ and being November, they have been learning all about Thanksgiving.

Will has been delighted to come home and share everything he’s learning, so when he asked me if we could have a Thanksgiving Celebration at our house, it was pretty hard to resist – actually, I didn’t even try 😉

From all of the North American pop culture I have absorbed over the years, even I know that Sweet pumpkin pie is an essential part of the Thanksgiving meal!

So this is my take on a pumpkin pie – from what I can gather, it is in no way a traditional version, but it fits the way we need to eat … and it is really yum!!

We don’t have canned pumpkin in Australia, and our pumpkin can be a little watery when mashed, so the addition of a little sweet potato helps to give it a thicker consistency.

For the Crust:

1 cup plain flour (GF mix or spelt – add 1/2 tsp of psyllium if using GF)
pinch pink salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
40g coconut sugar
50g Vegan butter, very cold
2 tbsp icy cold water

Mix flour, salt, cinnamon and sugar until well combined (Speed 5, 8 seconds)

Add in the butter and pulse until the mix resembles bread crumbs.

Add in the water, 1 tbsp initially and pulse to form a dough, add in the 2nd spoon if the mix is too dry.

Tip the mix out and bring together to form a smooth disc. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 mins – but up to overnight.

Roll the dough out to the shape of your pie dish – between 2 sheets of baking paper works best.

Grease your pie dish, the place the pastry into the pie dish. Use your fingers to fix up any little cracks and trim off any excess.

No need to blind bake the pastry for this pie.

For the Filling

850g butternut pumpkin, diced
70g Gold sweet potato, diced
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup date paste
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp each of ground ginger and cinnamon
1/4 tsp each of ground nutmeg and cloves
pinch pink flaked salt
2 tbsp pure corn flour

Place the pumpkin and potato in a baking dish, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, the roast at 200C for about 45 minutes, or until golden and very soft.

Transfer the pumpkin and potato to the processor, add in the date paste and sugar and process well, until smooth. (Speed 4, 20 seconds, scrape down then up to speed 6 for 10 seconds – repeat)

Add in the remaining ingredients and process again until very well combined and smooth (Speed 5, 12 seconds).

Pour the filling into the pie crust and place into a preheated 170C oven for about 50 minutes.

When you remove it, the crust will be golden, and there will be cracks in the top of the pie, but it will still be a little wobbly – that’s ok!

Allow the pie to cool on the bench for about half an hour and then transfer to the fridge to allow it to cool completely and set.

Serve cold or warm (I am told that there is much debate about this – but it’s really hot here so we are going cold!) with whipped cream, or even spiced ice cream. You can even drizzle with a little dark melted chocolate if there’s no cream to be served!