Thursday, November 29, 2007

Cayenne Pumpkin Pie



I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I had pumpkin pie for two of my meals on Monday. Breakfast was leftover sweet pumpkin pie that I had made for an American Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday night. Lunch was a savory pumpkin and poppyseed tart at Gee’s, where I dined with my friend Janet.

Pumpkin is a type of fruit indigenous to the Western hemisphere. Seeds dated as far back as 7000BC have been found in Mexico. The word has its origins in Greek as pepon (meaning "large melon"), and through adaptations in France, England and America has come to be known as pumpkin. Native Americans have long consumed pumpkin flesh and have also used its skin to weave mats.

Pumpkin pie is thought to have originated with the practice of cooking pumpkins by removing the seeds, filling them with milk and spices, and baking them in the hot ashes of a dying fire. It is now a staple of Canadian and American Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’ve included cayenne in this version to provide some contrast to the sweetness of the condensed milk and spices.


Serves 8-12

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
OR
1 prepared graham cracker crust

Filling:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 pinches cayenne

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. If you are making a crust, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Using your hands, pat the mixture along the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish. I find that a metal dish works best (sometimes the crust gets stuck to a glass dish). Bake at 350 F degrees for 5 to 7 minutes and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine all the filling ingredients. Pour into the piecrust.
4. Bake for 40 minutes or until set. Reduce the temperature if the pie starts to brown.
5. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

3 comments:

Rina said...

Never tried eating pumpkin pie, cause people put too much cinnamon in it. I don't chersih cinnamonin desserts. But your recipes calls for all spice and nutmeg powder , so this seems to be ok with me. Lovely looking pi,. made from scratch. Will bookmark this to try it. thanx for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I can vouch for the yumminess of this pumpkin pie, and I don't usually love pumpkin pie! This was one of the best I've ever sampled.

- Preets

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