My First Pumpkin Pie.

I’ve neverever done the Thanksgiving thing before; the most involved I’ve ever felt is watching that geeeenius episode of Friends with Brad Pitt and the yams and the story Ross kissing the lady with the stick. But St Andrews (my nearby little town) is rather full of Americans (mostly girls, on the hunt for princes) and you sort of pick up on wafts of excitement...which is why I am aware that it is Thanksgiving this very Thursday.

As well as never having done Thanksgiving, I have also never tried pumpkin pie...I KNOW, craaazyness. I love pumpkin. I love pie. How could it have remained absent from my repertoire for so long. Well I guess the truth is that I kiiiiiind of assumed it wouldn’t actually be very nice. You see I tend to not love things with not much more to offer than a silky texture, like trifle or custard tart, and I guess I thought pumpkin pie fell into that category.

But hurrah...I am pleased to say that while the pie is pretty silky smooth, the spicyness and crumbly pastry mean that I was wrong and that pumpkin pie is tasty indeed....and soso silky that it is actually one of my favourite things about it. Furthermore it’s very easy to pull together, especially if you use shop-bought pastry and canned pumpkin puree (if you can get it).

I do apologise for the slightly wonky look of the pie however...rather shamefully, the reason for the imperfection in the looks departments is that I was going to buy a pie dish, but then I bought shoes, so could no longer justify the purchase...woops....and had to make do with a cake tin. I will, however, verify that I made the correct decision...the pie worked great and I LOVE my shoes. Winwin. With Love and Cake.

Pumpkin Pie.

Recipe from marthastewart.com

A few notes:

• I had to adjust the recipe slightly due to my new shoes and subsequent lack of pie tin but I will write it as it appears originally because, well, it's Martha Stewart, you can't go wrong.
• If you have to adjust too though....left over pastry freezes fine. As for left over filling...mmmm leave it with me, I'm still working on a solution. Updated 23/11/12: I mixed mine with self-raising flour; enough to make a very stiff dough, a fried into thick pancakes...delish.
• Find my 'recipe' for pumpkin puree here.
• As usual I made the pastry in a food processor, it just seems so much more accessible to me that way, but if the opposite is the case for you just use your finger tips to rub in the butter and to bring the dough together.

Serves at least 8

You will need

a 23cm pie tin or dish, greased

For the pastry

320g plain flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

225g butter, fridge cold

3-4 tbsp water

For the filling

420g pumpkin puree

165g soft brown sugar

1 tbsp cornflour

pinch salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

pinch ground cloves

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

335g evaporated milk

• First lets make the pastry. Pulse together the flour and sugar in a food processor (or sift into a bowl).
• Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
• Add 3 tbsp of cold water and pulse until a soft dough forms, adding 1 more spoonful of water if necessary.
• Remove the dough from the processor and form gently into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
• Next, roll the pastry out thinly onto a floured surface. I used the cling film it was wrapped in to cover the pastry as I rolled, to stop the rolling pin sticking which worked well.
• Line your prepared tin with the pastry, and gently prick the base with a fork. Cut off the excess and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 190°c.
• Blind bake the pastry case; line it with a scrunched up piece of baking paper and fill with baking beads, or uncooked rice or dried beans (save them to continue to use for the same purpose, just don't cook them to eat).
• Place the pie tin in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the edges have started to colour.
• Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 15 minutes.
• Remove the pastry from the oven, set aside to cool and turn the oven down to 160°c.
• Now we make the filling...it's easy. Simply whisk all the ingredients together so you have a smooth paste.
• Pour the filling into the cooled pastry case and bake for 50-55 minutes, at which point the filling should barely wobble.
• Leave the pie to cool completely and then chill for a good few hours before tucking in (don't you just hate recipes that say that).