And when they see me, they wanna be me
I am the fantasy

So the secret’s out, I love Thanksgiving and it’s because of the pie. I know you’re all like but it’s an American tradition. Truly the idea of saying thanks to your family and friends is a pretty nice sentiment. But I mean so is pie, and this pie is something I have travelled many books and youtube videos for.

When I was growing up, my close family friend had a mother from America. She hosted a Thanksgiving almost annually. There were two pies that almost always ended up on the table - the pecan and the pumpkin. Whilst the pecan is a worthy opponent, it pales in comparison to the subtle beauty that is the pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is an orange, velvety smooth filling in a toasted shell. The pie is not overly sweet, she’s perfectly balanced and she will give you at least one serve of veggies. So in short I fell in love with the pumpkin pie. The pie is the Chuck to my Blair, the Christina to my Meredith, the chocolate to my peanut butter. Basically this pie is my muse, my flame.

I went on a long journey to find the perfect pie and my solution is this pie. I have tried Tartine’s pie, made Joanne Chang’s pie and dabbled in Ina Garten’s. Then I came across Ruth Tam’s recipe for pumpkin pie, I changed it obviously but she definetly inspired the filling. This recipe is my ode to pumpkin pie and has a cheeky throwback to pecan pie in the ice cream. I cannot make you love pumpkin pie like I do but I will give it a damn good go.

The pastry

50 g hazelnuts *
50 g pecans *
250 g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs ground wattleseed or coffee
120 g softened butter (not too soft)
150 g icing sugar
50 g caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla
75 g white chocolate, melted

To make the pastry

Preheat oven to 170’C. Prepare a baking sheet/tray.
Place nuts on tray and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Put hazenuts into a tea towel and rub together to peel them (they don’t need to be perfect)
Place nuts into a food processor to finely chop. Set asode to use later.
Whisk flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and wattleseed together.
Pile flour mixture into a heap onto a clean bench or pastry mat. Make a well in the centre of the pile.
Place chopped butter, egg, yolk, zest and vanilla into the well.
Mix together quickly until combined.
Add the nuts and combine well.
Wrap in cling film and rest for half an hour to an hour in the fridge.
Prepare tart tin by greasing tin and placing baking paper into the bottom.
Dust bench and rolling pin with flour and roll patry until 0.5 cm thick.
Place into tart tin and crimp edges as desired. Trim overhange to 1 cm.
Place into fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 180’C.
Put al-foil over tart case and fill with pastry weights or rice.
Bake tart case for 20 minutes.
Remove pastry weights and alfoil and place pastry back into oven and bake pastry for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.
Once cooled, brush pastry with melted chocolate (you could use egg white while pastry is hot). This ensures if there are any weaknesses or cracks in the pastry there won’t be any leaks once it is filled.

The filling (adapted from cook ‘til delicious)

half a butternut pumpkin
half a kent or other pumpkin
170 g thickened cream
125 g milk
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 - 2 Tbs coffee/espresso (cooled)
130 g brown sugar
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coffee

To make the filling and assemble

Preheat oven to 200’C and prepare a baking sheet/tray.
Place the pumpkin halves cut side down (seeds, skins and all) on the tray, poke holes in the skin of the pumpkins with a pairing knife.
Bake in the oven for 50 - 60 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
When pumpkin is cooled remove skins and seeds (you can dry these out and re-use these for salads/seed butter).
I roast the pumpkin because this reduces moisture content, you can then hang the pumpkin to remove all the water, do this by placing a strainer over a large bowl, placing a tea towel in the strainer then placing the pumpkin in the strainer and leaving for a few hours to drain.
Mash the pumpkin and weigh out 430 g of pumpkin. With the remaining pumpkin you can freeze it and use it in scones, gnocchi, ravioli and smoothie.
Turn oven down to 170’C.
Weigh pumpkin, sugar, spices, ground coffee and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over a medium heat until sputtering, stirring constantly with a spatula so it doesn’t catch. Stir over heat until thickened and shiny (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat.
Combine coffee, cream, milk, eggs and vanilla in a jug and whisk until well combined. Whisk the dairy into the pumpkin mix.
Strain the mixture into a bowl and press the solids through the strainer. Rewhisk the mixture.
Place mixture into the cooled tart shell.
Bake for 30-40 minutes. The pumpkin mixture should be firmish around edges with a jiggle in the centre.
Place on a cooling rack until cooled to room temperature then place into the fridge until set.

The pecan praline (from Dessert game)

150 g pecan
100 g caster sugar

To make the pecan praline

Preheat the oven to 170’C. Prepare a baking tray.
Place pecans on tray and toast for 10 minutes.
Spoon cooled/room temperature berry mix over the base to evenly cover.
Roughly chop nuts.
Place sugar in a saucepan over a medium-low heat and shake it to spread the sugar evenly on the pan’s surface.
When sugar starts to caramelise around the edges, using a silicone spatula move the caramel and melted sugar to the centre of the pan. Gently stir the sugar until completely melted and smooth. Cook until the sugar has caramelised and turns a dark amber.
Remove the saucepan from heat.
Stir the pecans theough the caramel and pour onto a silicone lined or baking paper lined tray and set aside until cooled.
Break the toffee up using a food processor until finely chopped.

The boozy ice cream (adapted from nyt master recipe) (Remember to begin this recipe the day before)

250 ml heavy/thickened cream
500 ml whole milk
170 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt flakes
6 large egg yolks
1 - 2 Tbs bourbon
1 x pecan praline (recipe above)

To make the ice cream

Place Kitchen Aid ice cream bowl in the freezer for 14 to 16 hours at least.
Add cream, milk and sugar into a small saucepan.
Simmer over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved (about 5 minutes).
While the dairy is simmering, whisk yolks in a bowl.
Once the dairy is heated and the sugar is dissolved, while whisking the egg yolks add 1/3 of warm dairy.
Then add the yolks into the saucepan and whisk together.
Return the saucepan to a medium low heat and gently cook the mixture until it coats the back of a spoon (or until mixture registers 76’C).
Once micture is thickened, strain into a bowl or container and stir through bourbon and salt.
Place cling film directly onto surface of base and cool in fridge overnight.
Assemble Kitchen Aid mixer with ice cream bowl and ice cream paddle attachment.
Place the ice cream base into the bowl and put the mixer on speed 1 or 2.
Churn for 20 - 25 minutes until thickened/resembles soft serve.
While ice cream is still churning, add broken praline and churn for 30 seconds until dispersed.
Place churned ice cream into an airttight container and place into freezer at least an hour before serving.

Notes:

*You can toast store bought almond/hazelnut meal instead of making it

*You can use store bought ice cream or whip bourbon into cream. If you have a different ice cream churner follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use. You do not have to add pecan praline but you could stir in chopped pecans and caramel sauce.

*You can use store bought pastry, any leftover pastry can be wrapped and frozen

final thoughts…

I finished Squid Game. I loved some bits of it. DUDE IS WEAK THOUGH!

I started and finished Winx Saga and it’s actually so good. WHAT?!

Don’t even get me started on Selling Sunset… That season was juicy and I need more.

I have started Sims 4 again and it’s nuts. I’m like crying over furntiure not matching.

Christmas is fast approaching. I am so excited. My sister is coming home! I cannot wait. We are going to watch Elf and Shrek 2, obviously. We will also listen to Mistletoe by Justin Beiber. Who else is excited for Christmas?

Amelia xx