Exactly! You get out the staple food from your fridge and whip the picture perfect and taste perfect (for me) pumpkin pie.
I got inspired by all of the stories I was hearing from my US friends and colleagues - the hustle around the Thanksgiving day preparation. For many - it is the next best celebration to Christmas, for some - it is THE best celebration in the year.
Our particularly active friends across the pond go through a few weeks preparation for this celebration and while the centrepiece of any family table is definitely a shiny stuffed turkey. The centrepiece of the dessert table - is a Pumpkin pie!
A year ago I had the opportunity to try the real pumpkin pie when I was visiting California and upon my return home I made sure I recreate this king of many pies.
This is the recipe I follow for the second year now and it is definitely the quickest and easiest you can get. ( I have also got the vegan pumpkin pie recipe, but since the majority of my readers eats eggs and milk, here you go).
For the Pumpkin pie of 20cm diameter you will need:
Ingredients:
1 x 425g can of Pumpkin Puree in the tin (alternatively you can cut fresh pumpkin in chunks, boilfor about 20 minutes and make a puree out of it - in this case you would need to prepare the puree in advance, so you have it ready)
255g shortcrust pastry (sometimes I make it myself, this time I got it from the shop)
2 large lightly beaten eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of salt
260g condensed milk
(some recipes call for sugar and if you are that way inclined, you can add about 170g of granulated sugar into your mix. But for me the half a jar of condensed milk is more than enough for sweetness).
How to make it:
Pre-heat your oven to 220C, gas mark 7. Or 200C - 210C for Fan ovens.
Meantime, roll out your pastry, go over it with the rolling pin few times to make it more or less rounded, like you would for pizza. Leave it to be about half a centimetre thick.
Place it into your flan tin (I use the one with the removable bottom - best creation in baking cooking world).
Bake blind for 10-15 minutes.
I like to fill it either with some beans or chickpeas (if you don't have ceramic beans to hand), to make sure the bottom doesn't raise while in the oven and to help distribute the heat evenly.
While your pumpkin pie shell is baking, get to business by whizzing all ingredients together in any type of the blender you have. You can even use the handheld blender.
Start with beating the eggs just a bit, then drop in the same bowl all of the spices, salt, pumpkin puree, and finish with the condensed milk.
Blend!
It should then look something like that:
Reduce the oven to 180C, gas mark 4. (Or 160C-170C if you have a fan oven).
Get the shell out of the oven, pour your blended content into the baked shell.
Leave it to bake for about 40 - 50 minutes. Check by inserting the wooden stick into the middle and making sure it comes out clean.
I then disappeared off to quickly refresh the living room, and set the table. While the house started to fill with the baked pie aroma...mmm
You can do the same and use your time wisely to prepare the house or yourself to see your best buddies. Because I would only share such pie with my best friends.
My table is decorated with the flowers I have timely received from my friends at the Prestige Flowers team. With whom I have partnered to enjoy the most amazing fresh bouquet of the month of November - Onyx. Made out of the gorgeous velvet grand prix roses, calla lilies and bouvardia, which opens up more and more as the days go by. With it all refreshed by few eucalyptus sprigs throughout the hand-tied bouquet. It is a second week already and its still going strong.
You can get this bouquet as a one off with the next day delivery or get the monthly subscription for as many months as you would like on the Prestige Flowers website (3, 9 or 12 months subscriptions are available).
Let me know if you have tried making this pie and how did you like it!
Thank you for stopping by, my friends! xx
