My friend Lorell of Not all faeries are beautiful asked for a pumpkin pie recipe for Halloween. Our house doesn't do Halloween but Lorell loves it nearly as much as Christmas which is saying something because she LOVES Christmas. So here is my favourite. Pumpkin Pie which is nothing like my mother in law or my mother used to make.
Make a shortcrust pastry enough to line a 9 -10" pie plate. 120g butter, ( I always use butter because I strongly believe that margarine is a vile poison hoax forced onto the world by ... I'll leave that rant for another time but anyway butter tastes better.) 250 g plain flour 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder, 2 tablespoons caster sugar, 2 tablespoons cornflour, 1 egg. Rub the butter into the flour. I use a food processor. Throw in everything else egg last. you might have to put in a bit of water to get it together. Depends on how old the flour is and how much you swear at it. Pulse it together or mix it.
Knead it very lightly just to get it together. Put pastry in the fridge to rest wrapped in freezer bag (The pastry not the fridge.)
While it is resting get a pumpkin, butternut, jap or kent. I like Jap. You will need about 3 cups of cooked pumpkin.
Cut it up, peel it. take out the seeds. STEAM IT until just cooked. It is better if it is steamed but if you boil it you still want it just cooked.
Put the cooked pumpkin in a bowl with 50 grams of butter, a 1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice or nutmeg or both. Grated rind of a lemon. Mix it together. Let it cool a bit.
Get the pastry out of the fridge roll it out to fit a greased or bakepaper lined 9 - 10 " pie plate. Jab it all over with a fork put in a piece of bake paper and a couple of cups of rice. Cook it in a 180 degree oven for ten minutes. Take the pastry out and take out the paper and the rice. (You can still cook the rice like normal. It doesn't affect it too use it for this.)
Beat up two eggs then mix it into the pumpkin really well. Pour pumpkin into the pastry (at this stage if you have enough pastry or made more than you needed you could put a top on it but I don't put a pastry top on it. )
Put it into the oven and cook it until the pumpkin is just firm.( If it starts to colour to much you might have to put a bit of foil over it. ) About twenty minutes depending on your oven.
Now for my favourite bit. Take about a cup of full fat sour cream (The light stuff doesn't work) mix in a tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of brandy or rum spread this over the pumpkin and put it back into the oven for ten minutes or until set.
This is yum sometimes I sprinkle flaked almonds over the top of the sour cream too.
I cook the pastry shell a bit longer now cause my oven is crap.