thefoodlessprocessed

“Some of us who belong to the conservative party still claim that no squash pie ever concocted possessed a flavor to equal a correctly-made pumpkin pie…Today with canned pumpkin, we can have pies of this caliber around the calendar.” (Haydn S. Pearson from Country Flavor Cookbook (1956).

Here is one of the advantages of commercial food processing–canned pumpkin. All pumpkins are winter squash but not all winter squash are pumpkins. Pies of both are closely associated with the fall season. But pumpkin pie, especially, is a traditional feature of the American Thanksgiving.

The less processed ingredient options are described through these links: Apple Juice, Apple Juice Concentrate, Pumpkin, Milk, Cream, Cinnamon, Ginger, Flour, Butter, Salt, Water.

Equipment for the Pastry and Filling

• a Large Bowl
• a Pastry Board
• a Rolling Pin
• a Pizza Cutter
• a Traditional American Slant-Sided Pie Pan with a 10-inch (25.5 cm) Diameter Base
• a Mixer, Standing or Hand, and Bowl

Ingredients for the Filling

• 2 and 2/3 cup Organic Canned Pumpkin (about 21.5 ounces or 610 g)
• 1 cup (240 ml) Organic Heavy Cream or 1 cup Whole Milk. Either makes a good pie.
• 2 Eggs
• 2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup Homemade Apple Juice Concentrate (about 220 ml). thefoodlessprocessed recipe is here: Apple Juice Concentrate.
• 2 teaspoons Organic Ceylon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

Ingredients for the Pastry

• 1 and 1/2 cups of European Soft Wheat Unenriched White Flour (180 g), and a little more for the board and finished dough. Hard Wheat Unenriched White Flour, which is the standard American flour, may be substituted.
• 9 Tablespoons of Organic European-style Unsalted Butter (126 g)
• 3/4 teaspoon Sea Salt (about 4 g)
• a maximum of 4 and 1/2 Tablespoons of Cold Water

Mixing the Pastry

• Pour the flour and salt into the bowl and mix them together.
• Add the butter, cutting it into small pieces.
• Rub the butter into the flour with your hands until you feel only very fine bits of butter in the texture of the mix.
• Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the mixture and lightly blend it in with your hands. Add the water by tablespoons until the dough forms a cohesive ball.
• Lightly flour the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before rolling it out if there is time.

Forming the Pie Shell

• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured pastry board. Roll from the center out in all directions to form a circle that will fit in the pie pan with a small overhang.
• Transfer the dough to the pie pan: Place the pie pan next to the board. Roll the dough loosely around the pin, towards you, until only about half the dough hangs down from the pin. Drape the unrolled portion over the edge of the pan nearest you and unroll the remainder out away from you, covering the pan.
• Press the dough down into the pan and up the sides.
• Trim the overhang a little beyond the border of the pan. Roll the edges of the dough under to rest on top of the pan. Crimp the rolled border. Refrigerate the shell while making the filling.

Mixing the Filling and Baking the Pie

Gas or Convection Oven:  thefoodlessprocessed uses a gas oven. The conversions from Fahrenheit to Celsius do not attempt to adjust for differences between baking in a gas or convection oven. I have no experience using a convection oven, and leave adjustments to the better judgement of you who do have.

• Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).
• Using a hand mixer or standing mixer, mix together the pumpkin and eggs. Add the cream or milk and mix. Then the apple juice concentrate and the cinnammon, ginger and salt.
• Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. The pie is done when the filling is set, and shakes only slightly. As it cools it will continue to bake a little.