By Carolyne
Traditionally, after Halloween millions of pumpkins find their new homes: in garbage bins. Jack-o-lanterns are the symbol of Allhallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Day, across our nation.
The celebration of Halloween is credited to the rites of the druids’ celebration of the day of Saman when, traditionally, the Lord of Death called together the souls of the wicked who had died during the year. Thankfully, the modern celebrations lean toward the old Roman festivals, held in honour of Pomona, the goddess of fruit.
Try adding pumpkin pie filling to your favourite tomato soup cake recipe or to your favourite spice cake recipe. Pumpkin can also be done up in chutneys and or preserves, for a really special mid-winter treat.
Halloween is not celebrated in England or Continental Europe, so children of families who recently moved here from overseas will be in for great fun and excitement on the night of Oct. 31. Surprise a new neighbour from another culture with a freshly baked pumpkin pie, to honour the post-Halloween celebrations.
The recipe that follows is from a mid-ʼ70s column, but it’s a favourite around our house and I feel confident you will make it an annual favourite too – serving it not just on Halloween, but on many other festive occasions.
By the way, don’t let the candle char the inside of the pumpkin too much.
The pumpkin is a relative of the squash and it too grows on a vine. It is a fruit, as is the tomato, as well as the avocado; not a vegetable. One cup of canned pumpkin contains 7.750 international units of Vitamin A, which although only half as much as in a cup of raw carrots, is high compared to other fruits. There are only 75 calories per cup of canned pumpkin, so if you are dieting, leave the pastry and just eat the filing.
This recipe calls for fresh, baked pumpkin; therefore allow plenty of time for preparation. It is not difficult to make. Even if you have never made a pumpkin pie before there’s no time like right now to turn on your oven and add this to your recipe box.
Pastry
2 c. flour
1 c. sweet butter
½ c sugar
½ t. vanilla
2 egg yolks
Mix all ingredients together and spread on to the bottom and sides of Pyrex pie plates. Prick the pastry with a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool.
This recipe will cover one 9-inch and one 11-inch pie plate.
Filling
5 c “baked” pumpkin
1-3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1-1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1 t. nutmeg
Sprinkle each of mace (which is the flower of the nutmeg, having a sweeter taste), cardamom and ground cloves
3 whole eggs, beaten
1-3/4 c. milk and 1 c. water
Bake one medium-size pumpkin on a cookie sheet, in a 325-degree oven for about 1-1/4 hours or until it has the consistency of a baked potato when you prick the skin with a fork. Prick the pumpkin in several spots near top before baking to prevent it from rupturing.
After the pumpkin is baked, slice off its top. If you can get the seeds out without too much trouble with a slotted spoon, do so. Otherwise slice the pumpkin vertically into large pieces and pare away the skin and scrape off the seeds. Mash the flesh of the pumpkin with a potato masher or break it down in a Cuisinart. It is too coarse at this stage for a regular blender.
Heat the pumpkin flesh in a stainless steel or coated cast iron pot, on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Mix sugar and spices together and stir into the hot pumpkin. Add beaten eggs to water and milk. Add this mixture to the pumpkin. Puree in the blender. Fill the prepared pastry shells (quite full) and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn down the heat to 300 degrees and continue baking for 45 minutes. Cool. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream.
This filling freezes well, if you have time to double up on the recipe for later use.
Prepare the pastry shells several hours ahead, even the day before, so that the pastry is completely cool. Paint the pastry with egg white wash before filling to help the pastry stay dry. You might want to drizzle the whipped cream dollop at serving time, with a little maple syrup. A sprig of mint leaves on the side of the serving plate adds a nice touch.
The working title for Carolyne’s Gourmet Recipes cookbook is From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen: A Canadian Contessa Cooks. This kitchen-friendly doyenne has been honoured and referred to as the grande dame of executive real estate in her market area during her 35-year career. She taught gourmet cooking in the mid-70s and wrote a weekly newspaper cooking column, long before gourmet was popular as it is today. Her ebook, Gourmet Cooking – at Home with Carolyne is available here for $5.99 US. Email Carolyne. Scroll down to the comments at each recipe column. Carolyne often adds complimentary “From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen” additional recipes in the Recipes for Realtors Comments section at REM.
