Pumpkin Pie

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Pumpkin pie is very much an American recipe, but it has proved popular elsewhere and what I give here is an Australian version of this iconic dish.

If you want to use ready-made pastry you can miss out the first step and quite frankly I can see no reason not to use puff pastry squares. But for those of you who prefer to mix and roll your own, let’s start with the pastry recipe.

You need:

· 310g of plain flour
· 1tbs icing sugar
· 185g of butter, cut into pieces
· 1 egg yolk
· 2tbs of iced water

Sift and mix the dry ingredients in a suitable bowl, then rub in the butter until you have a mix resembling fine breadcrumbs. Add in the egg yolk and as much water as you need to form a workable but still firm dough. Wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

While you are waiting, prepare the filling:

2kg of pumpkin
90g of brown sugar
1tbs golden syrup
2tsp of cinnamon
2tsp of mixed spice
240g mixed dried fruit

The first thing to do is to cook the pumpkin by boiling until soft enough to mash. You will need about  two cups cooked volume, which is about what you will get from the weight of raw pumpkin specified.

As you mash, add in all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. I find it easier to add the syrup last of all, after the mashing process is finished.

Lightly grease an 18cm pie dish and line this with two-thirds of your pastry. Add the filling, cover with the remaining pastry, brush with a little milk, sprinkle with sugar and bake in the middle of an oven preheated to 220°C, 425°F for 10 minutes, followed by a further 30 minutes at 200°C, 400°F.

Keep an eye on it. Some ovens will have the pastry cooked in less time than that, so check it after 20 minutes or so. And if you are using puff pastry, don’t bother to reduce the temperature during cooking, but do glaze the top with an egg beaten in a little milk.

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