As mentioned in Day 97 of The Challenge
Happy Thanksgiving (a little belatedly)! Pumpkin pie is a staple Thanksgiving and Christmas food in my family, so even though we were unable to do a full Thanksgiving dinner on the day, we had a pie. This year though I decided to do it with a twist. For starters there is a discussion every year between my husband and I about whether we are making his family's pie or mine. They are both good. They both have definite merits, but we each favour the one we grew up with. So this year, I made a hybrid, not either properly speaking but somewhere between the two. Then, I decided that as pumpkin pie is always homogenous in texture and has quite a smooth, low note to it, I wanted to sharpen it a little with swirly of rosehip puree through it. Finally, my sister had suggested trying to change up the crust a little, using some juice or something to change the colour, so I made pomegranate and cinnamon crust. The pink colour was more striking in the raw dough, but it had a very nice flavour and played well with the rest of the flavours.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 1/2 - 2 c flour
3/4 c butter
1/3 - 1/2 c pomegranate juice
1/4 - 1/2 c milk
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the filling:
1 3/4 c pumpkin purée (I roasted a small pumpkin and mashed it up, skin and all - but no seeds or guts - to get the purée. Leaving the skin ultimately added some texture to the pie)
1 1/2 c evaporated milk
2 eggs
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp (heaped) cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
A pinch of nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp orange peel
1/2 - 3/4 c rosehip purée
1) Place 1 1/2 c flour in a large bowl. Cut butter into it in small pieces and then rub the flour and butter together with finger tips until it forms a crumb like consistency.
2) Pour in the pomegranate juice and stir with a fork to form a dough. Add the sugar and cinnamon, and then as much milk as needed to bring the dough together.
3) Knead on a floured surface for a few minutes, using some of the remaining flour as necessary if the dough is too sticky. The dough should be elastic and not too heavy. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes, if not longer (it still works if you don't chill it, just not as well).
4) Place the pumpkin purée in a mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients except the rosehip purée, and mix well.
5) Roll out the pie crust and line the bottom of a pie plate with it ( deeper would be better, but as seen in the pictures mine was shallow and it worked very nicely).
6) Pour pumpkin mix into the pie plate. Dollop a spoonful of the rosehips into the centre, and using the blade of a knife or a thin spatula, swirl the rosehip gradually out from the centre to form tendrils of rosehip through the pumpkin, yet with each remaining quite distinct. Repeat this several times until all the rosehip is swirled in, being careful not to scrape up the pie crust with the knife.
7) Bake at 220°C for 15 minutes the lower the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 45-50 minutes. Cool well before serving.
I loved this pie and thought it to be a huge success! My husband declared it to be his favourite iteration of pumpkin pie yet. This is the first pumpkin pie we have had that is better without whipped cream! The sweet pie with its deep note contrasted beautifully with the tart note of the rosehips and the sweet acidity of the orange peel against the spices. I liked this new trial crust as well, although I admit to spilling the sugar a bit so it was a bit sweet. The texture was a bit less homogenous due to the orange peel and the pumpkin peel, and to the veins of rosehip running through the pie at different levels. Love love love this pie! Please try it and let me know what you think!
EDIT: I made this pie again for Thanksgiving this year. It was as big of a hit as last year, but this time I made it using cranberry juice in the crust instead, which works just as well!