Pumpkin Orange Pie.
A delicious dairy and cane-sugar free twist on the old classic.
Prep time: 30 minutes.
Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Serves 6.
Ingredients.
Crust.
Rind and juice of one orange.
Two cups of self-raising flour
One tablespoon of vanilla essence.
1 third of a cup of honey.
Half a cup of oil.
Filling.
The rind and juice of one orange.
2 cups of mashed pumpkin.
One cup of coconut cream.
One tablespoon of vanilla essence.
Third of a cup of honey.
One heaped teaspoon of cinnamon.
One egg.
Three tablespoons of corn flour.
Nondairy milk.
Topping.
One egg.
One tablespoon of vanilla essence.
One cup of shredded coconut.
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 220 c (428f).
To prepare the base, combine the oil, flour, orange juice, vanilla, rind and honey into a dough. Mix the ingredients lightly until it only just forms crumbs. Do not mix the dough more than you absolutely must. Cover with clingwrap and refrigerate for five to ten minutes.
Once chilled, tip the dough into your pie pan and press it in with your fingertips.
Don’t bother trying to roll it out. The oil makes for a fragile pastry. It will hang together after baking, but it will not tolerate being rolled out like butter or Crisco pastry.
Bake the empty shell for five minutes at 220 c (428f).
To make the filling, combine the orange juice, honey, rind, vanilla essence, egg, coconut cream, cinnamon and pumpkin in a pot. Whisk together until smooth. Cook the mixture until it begins to bubble, stirring constantly. When it reaches the bubbling point, remove it from the heat but do not allow it to completely cool down.
Take the three tablespoons of cornflower and add just enough nondairy milk of your choice to form a paste with the cornflower.
Once a smooth paste has been formed, whisk it into the pumpkin coconut mixture. Return the mixture to heat. Whisk over heat until the mixture thickens up. Pour the mixture into your pie crust and return it to the oven.
Bake until the filling becomes firm. This should take about fifteen minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven.
To create the topping, mix one egg with a large tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of vanilla essence. Pour over the top of the pie. Return to the oven for about five minutes until the egg mixture is almost cooked.
Remove from the oven and cover the top of the pie with the shredded coconut. Return the pie to the oven for a final five minutes to toast the coconut and finish cooking the glaze.
Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool before serving.
Tips.
This is a forgiving recipe. If you like your desserts a little sweeter, feel free to bump up the honey. Just keep an eye on the overall texture of your batter and adjust your other ingredients accordingly.
This is a delicate pastry. I recommend using a silicone pie dish because it results in a more attractive finished product. This pastry is inclined to stick and break in more traditional pans.
Do not aim to cook the egg glaze until it is hard. It should be cooked just enough to hold together and soft enough to create a rich, gooey finish to your pie.
If you possibly can, I suggest using an actual pumpkin for this recipe, rather than canned pumpkin. Your taste buds will thank you. Any pumpkin will work.
Happy Eating!
