Pumpkin Pie

I tried pumpkin pie when I was on honeymoon in New York and really loved it so I thought it was time to give it a whirl in the kitchen.
With its sweet and spicy flavour it is just right for this time of year. Its not too hard to make and the results are yummilicious.
So a couple of things. Firstly, if you do make your own pastry I prefer to use icing sugar because it gives a smoother finish than caster but, feel free to use caster if you want. Secondly, the pumpkin puree. In America they sell it in cans which seem to be fairly easy to buy but over here in good old England it’s a little harder to find. After going into 3 different supermarkets I finally found it at Waitrose. You can make your own by baking a pumpkin and whizzing it up in a food processor.
There are two stages, the sweet pastry and then the filling. If you do not want to attempt the pastry just buy a 9 inch pastry case instead.


Ingredients:

Sweet Pastry:

225g plain flour
110g butter salted cubed
90g icing sugar
1 large egg
Splash of milk

Pumpkin filling:

75g soft dark brown sugar
425g pumpkin puree (one can)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
275 ml double cream
2 large eggs and one extra egg yolk

Equipment:

Food processor
9 inch flan tin with a loose bottom
Baking beans


To make the pastry sieve the flour and icing sugar into the food processor. Then add the cubed butter and on a low setting let it whiz until it becomes a crumb texture. If you do not have a food processor use your finger tips.
Next add the egg and milk and give it another whiz till it binds. Make sure you stop as soon as it comes together. Then empty it onto a floured surface and give it just a couple of kneads to make it into a ball. Wrap it in some Clingfilm and put it in the fridge for about 20 minutes to cool.

Place your flan tin bottom on your surface and sprinkle a little flour on it. Put your ball of dough in the middle of the base and start to roll out. Roll it so it is about an inch and a half outside the base of the tin bottom. Then pull it in around the edge and place the bottom back in the tin. Fold the dough back out so it covers the edges of the tin and gently push it into the grooves. Using a fork poke the base about 6 or so times, cover and put back in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Now to blind bake. Preheat the oven to gas 5/190°C and then cover you pastry case with greaseproof paper. Put your baking beans into it and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes till the sides start to brown. Then take the beans off and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes so the base browns a little. Take it out of the oven and gently cut off any extra pastry around the edges.

Next job is the filling. Whisk your eggs in a bowl and put to the side. Then pour the cream and all the spices and sugar into a pan over a gentle heat. Whisk it so all the ingredients are incorporated. Gradually pour your cream mixture in the eggs but make sure you whisk it continually so as not to get any lumps. Once fully mixed add your pumpkin puree, again whisking so it is well combined.

Lastly, pour your filling into your pastry case and bake for about 35-40 minutes on gas 5/190°C . There should be a slight wobble in the middle when done.
If you notice there is a crack in the top which means I overcooked mine by about 5 minutes. Ideally there should not be any cracks...If only I had remembered to put an alarm on and stopped watching the T.V. Ho hum.

Allow to cool and then take out of the tin. Serve with a bit of cream or as Mr P has informed me, it would go well with ice cream if we had any.

Panettone

Christmas time, mistletoe and wine as Sir Cliff once said. He failed to mention Panettone. Silly Cliff.
I made some for the first time and its rather nice but I did manage to deactivate the yeast, so there wasn't much rising going on but you win some and lose some.

Ingredients:

1x 7g sachet fast action yeast
400g strong white flour
75g caster sugar
2 large eggs and 2 extra yolks
3 tablespoons lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one orange
zest of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
175g unsalted softened butter
75g sultanas
50 candied peel
50g dark chocolate finely chopped
40g unsalted butter to finish

Equipment:

1x 15cm deep cake tin lined with greaseproof paper.
(I didn't have the correct size tin so I did it in two batches in a small loaf tin)


Firstly, mix the yeast with 125g of the flour and sugar then make a well in the centre. Beat the whole eggs with the water and pour into the well.

Using your hand give it a mix until you have a smooth batter, and then leave for an hour in a warm area until the batter is bubbly. It is potentially here where I didnt leave it for long enough for the yeast to work properly.

Next, stir the egg yolks, vanilla and zests into the batter. Gradually stir 175g of the flour and the salt so you end up with a sticky dough. Salt can deactivate the yeast as well so again this is where my issue may have occurred as well. Add the softened butter and work it in by squeezing the dough through your fingers. Do this till there are no streaks.

Once fully combined you need to turn the dough out onto a floured worktop and kneed for 10 minutes so you have a soft stretchy but not sticky dough. Add the remaining flour while kneading and you may find you need a little less or a little more. Feel free to pop on a bit of music to wile away the time.

After 10 minutes pop the dough in a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave it to rise for 2-2.5 hours in a warm place but not in direct sunlight. After this time uncover and punch the dough down and leave again for another 1-1.5 hours to rise again.
While the dough is rising combine the sultanas, candied peel and choc in a bowl with a little bit of flour so they do not stick together. I split the batch into two so one batch had just the fruit and the other fruit and chocolate.
Next line your cake tin/loaf tin/ so it is ready. Make sure the greaseproof paper is about 5cm or so higher than the tin.

Once this time is up you punch the dough down again and then roll it onto a floured worktop. Gently place the fruit/chocolate mix so it is evenly distributed. Turn it into a ball (cake tin) or a roll in my case and put it in the loaf tin. Make a cross on top of the dough then cover and leave for an hour to rise.

Preheat the oven to gas 6 and melt 25g of butter. Then just before putting the Panettone in, brush the top with the melted butter, put a 15g knob of it in the middle (15g for cake tin or two 7.5g knobs on each of the loaves).
Put it in the oven and after 10 minutes brush it again with the melted butter and reduce to gas 4. Leave it in the oven for about 40 minutes (or about 30 minutes for each loaf). When a skewer comes out clean it is done.

When done pop on a rack to cool and take it out of the tin after 10 minutes. Make sure it is completely cool before slicing.

Then eat! Give it a toast and spread with butter. Nom nom nom.

Recipe taken from the Great British Bake Off How to Bake Book.