Although our country doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving as an official public holiday, we can still get festive and take this as an opportunity to gather around a table and give thanks with our loved ones while feasting on some delicious food. One dish that you can’t do Thanksgiving without is the classic pumpkin pie and we have the ultimate recipe that will leave your guests lost for words. It’s creamy and sweet with a touch of spice and will prove impossible to fault.
Ingredients
For the crust
190 grams of standard flour
115 grams of Lewis Road Creamery’s unsalted butter, cut into 1.5cm pieces
1 tbsp of white sugar
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp. ice water (or more, if needed)
For the filling
1 can (425 grams) pumpkin purêe
1 ¼ cups of Lewis Road Creamery’s double cream
150 grams of brown sugar
3 free-range eggs (beaten)
1 tbsp of standard flour
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of allspice
1 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
¼ tsp of salt
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
Whipped cream, for serving
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Method
1. Freeze the flour and the butter for half an hour before you start making the crust.
2. In a blender or food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt until combined.
3. Add in the cold cubes of butter and blend until they start to break down.
4. Add in the vinegar and slowly add the ice water one tablespoon at a time. When the dough begins to come together and is moist but not wet or sticky — stop. It’s alright if the mixture is slightly crumbly.
5. Take some flour and spread it on a clean bench surface. Place your dough on the floured, flat surface and manipulate it to form a little ball. Then flatten the ball into a small disk shape, ensuring as few cracks as possible.
6. Cover the dough with cling wrap and refrigerate it for at least three hours or until it’s cold to the touch — preferably, leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight.
7. When the dough has been adequately chilled, remove from the fridge and, on a lightly floured surface, roll it into a 12-inch circle. Carefully drape it over a pie dish and delicately press it in to fit the dish. Don’t stretch. Take a fork and use to prick the base a few times.
8. Trim the pie, one inch away from the edge of the dish and pinch the edges.
9. Preheat the oven to 220ºC and grease a 9” x 1.5” pie dish with butter.
10. Refrigerate the crust for another half an hour before covering it with baking paper and dried beans or uncooked rice. These will weigh the pie crust down so that it remains flat while baking.
11. Put the crust into the oven for 10 minutes before removing it and reducing the heat to 175ºC. Take the baking paper with the rice/beans off the crust, and allow it to cool on the bench. Ensure the oven remains on.
12. Now, for the filling, in a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, cream, brown sugar, beaten eggs, flour, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, chilli powder, salt, and vanilla until smooth.
13. Pour pumpkin mixture into the partly-baked crust and then put it back in the oven. Allow it to bake for approximately 1 hour or until the filling is slightly jiggly in the middle and crust is golden.
14. Turn off your oven but don’t take the pie out just yet. Let it cool in the turned-off oven for an hour. Taking the pie out straight away can result in it not setting properly, or setting with cracks. After about an hour, take the pie out of the oven and allow it to cool completely on a rack.
15. While the pie cools, whip some fresh cream to serve on the side.
Slice and enjoy!
