By Lyn Funnell
The Americans love their Pumpkin Pies. But they’re not pies as they don’t have a lid. And I can’t understand why they often use tinned pumpkin when they have a wide variety of pumpkins grown there.
Here is my recipe using pumpkin from a local pumpkin farm. It’s very easy to make;
Roast the pumpkin whole in the oven for 1-1 1/2 hours until the skin is soft when you poke it.
Cut the pumpkin into four when it’s cool enough to handle. Scoop out the pips and pith with a spoon and peel the skin off.
Ingredients
Pastry for the base.
I bought supermarket puff pastry. It’s good & reasonably low-priced. You could use shortcrust.
24 oz cooked pumpkin
4oz brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 eggs
10 fl oz single cream
Preheat oven to 190c, 375F, Gas Mark 5.
In a large bowl & using an electric hand mixer, or place in a mixer, puree the pumpkin.
Add the other ingredients, leaving the cream to last, and mix everything together.
Roll out the pastry and line a flan dish.
Tip the mixture on top of the pastry and bake in the oven for approx 50 minutes, until brown on the top.
Remove from the oven and leave it to cool and to set more.
Serve with single cream, for flavour and to give it some colour. Or add your own garnish ideas, like a sprig of mint, or some strawberry slices.
It’s not the prettiest dessert that I’ve made, but it does taste good!