Pumpkin pie

• 190 g Wheat flour (for the pastry, plus extra for the worktop)
  Swaps (2)
• 115 g Butter (unsalted, well chilled, diced)
  Swaps (2)
• 3 u Egg (large)
  Swaps (2)
• 2 pinches Salt (one for the pastry and one for the filling)
• 1 tablespoon Sugar (for the pastry)
• 150 g Brown Sugar
• 1 kg Pumpkin (with dense orange flesh (butternut or a roasting pumpkin), to make about 425 g of purée, or a 425 g tin of pumpkin purée)
• 1.5 teaspoons Cinnamon (ground)
• 1 tablespoon Icing Sugar (for the cream)
  Swaps (1)
• 350 ml Evaporated Milk (one tin, or the same amount of whipping cream)
• 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 0.5 teaspoons Nutmeg (freshly grated)
• 0.25 teaspoons Cloves (ground)
• 200 ml Whipping Cream (well chilled, to serve)
  Swaps (1)
• 60 ml Water (iced, for the pastry)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pastry: mix the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips (or cut it in with two knives) until it looks like coarse sand with pea-sized bits of butter. Add the iced water a spoonful at a time, mixing with a fork, until the dough holds together when squeezed. Shape it into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour.

   10 min

2. 2

   While the pastry rests, heat the oven to 200 °C. Halve the pumpkin lengthways, scoop out the seeds and strings with a spoon and lay it cut side down on a tray lined with baking paper. Roast until a knife slides through with no resistance at all.

   50 min

3. 3

   When it has cooled a little, scoop out the flesh and blend it to a very smooth purée. If it is watery, cook it for a few minutes in a saucepan, stirring, to drive off the moisture: it should be thick, like mashed potato. Weigh out 425 g and leave to cool.

   10 min

4. 4

   Roll out the pastry on a floured worktop to about 3 mm thick and 30 cm across. Ease it into a 23 cm pie dish without stretching it, fold the overhang under and crimp the edge. Prick the base with a fork and put the dish in the freezer for 15 minutes.

   20 min

5. 5

   Blind bake the case at 190 °C: line it with baking paper, fill with dried chickpeas or ceramic baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Lift out the paper and beans and bake for another 5–8 minutes, until the base looks dry and barely golden. Lower the oven to 175 °C.

   22 min

6. 6

   For the filling, whisk the pumpkin purée with the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and a pinch of salt. Beat in the eggs one at a time and finally the evaporated milk, until the custard is smooth and free of lumps.

   5 min

7. 7

   Set the dish on a baking tray, pour the custard into the still-warm case and bake until the edges are set and the centre (about 5 cm across) still wobbles slightly, like jelly, when you nudge the dish. If the pastry edge browns too fast, cover it with strips of foil.

   50 min

8. 8

   Leave the pie to cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours: during this time it finishes setting and will slice cleanly. Then keep it in the fridge.

   2 hr

9. 9

   Just before serving, whip the well-chilled cream with the icing sugar to soft peaks. Serve the pie in slices with a spoonful of cream and, if you like, a pinch of cinnamon on top.

   5 min