Pumpkhristmas Pie

25/12 PUMPKHRISTMAS PIE

*there isn't

And I Jack, the pumpkin King, have grown so tired of the same old thing. Sometimes you can't help but shake things up, like running away overseas for a few months with no plan. This pumpkristmas pie is testament to that mentality - rash, odd, yet peculiarly perfect. Pumpkin is a festive vegetable which translates globally, so from Melbourne to Paris via America landing wherever this is read. A pie was created from a can of miraculous pumpkin puree unearthed in an Parisian-American grocer and avoided sickly sweetness by demanding so much seasoning it may spiced up your life.

Very rough and tumble to create. The base is bashed biscuits stuck back together with butter filled with a semi-custard that comes out of the oven as a cartoonishly evil pumpkin, complete with gnarly teeth. Teeth that grin at you, willing you to stick it with a knife. Adding to the ever-chic American in Paris this was served with a spoon of marshmallow fluff - take a moment to laugh, then try it. This doesn't taste of the star spangled Amer-y-kahn pie. This is born of the Eurovision Union with the glitter to prove it.

A muchly Merry Christmas from and to us Orphaned Ingredients x

Ingredients (all approximate) - 

for the base:
300g Digestive Biscuit
125g Butter
1//2 Tsp Salt
1 Egg

for the body:
1 Can Pumpkin Puree (~300ml)
3 Eggs
1 Cups Sugar
1.5 Cups Milk
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Chilli Powder

What I did - Oven Preheated to 200 degrees

Start by making the crumbly pastry base, which begins with a stress relieving battering of the biscuits. Make sure you smash them all into smithereens, and don't worry if htye're not perfectly even, the larger pieces help keep the crumb. Mix in the salt, egg and melted butter. The crumbs should be sticky enough to line the tart tin (make sure it has a removable base). Press the mix evenly around the base and into the grooves. Bake for 10 minutes to harden.

While the base is forming the molten pumpkin core needs to take shape. Sear the milk in a pan, jumping at the last second to take it off the heat before boiling. In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs and sugar. Next empty the can of pumpkin (genius creation) and spices and whisk again. Like a custard slowly whisk in the milk until you have a runny orange gloop. Stir over heat (back in the pan) for a few minutes just to start thickening - this will reduce the oven time and stop the base from destabilising and leaving the oven a sticky orange mess.

Pour the pumpkin into the base and bake at 180 degrees for 1 hour. Check after an hour by shaking the tart to see how set it is. It should ideally have the wobble of a toned leg, not the jiggle of a big booty. If it needs longer check every five minutes until ready.

Leave to cool before eating. The gnarly pumpkin decoration was a result of poking around before it had set leaving a hole, but keeps the spirit of the pumpkin alive. Like a certain thorny crowned birthday boy the pumpkin is reborn and lives to tell.

JG

P.S. Served not with cream, but a spoon of uber-chic marshmallow fluff - trust me.