Pumpkin pie

To bake a beautiful pumpkin pie you need to start with the crust. For this I recommend, if you have one, a trusted pastry recipe using, instead of lard or shortening, a lard that you render yourself. The Marktslager (find him on Groningen Vismarkt on a Tuesday, Friday and Saturday) has, starting in October, two choices: a lard they have rendered – or fat that you can render at home. When I first saw unrendered fat, I balked, even though they offered the very best there is – a beautiful slab of fat from around the kidney. Well, 10 minutes later, I was back telling them I’d buy it. It seemed worth a try and, I must say, it was. It made the flakiest, most delicious pie crust. That’s my top recommendation. Alternatively you could use a ready-made pie crust or ready-made pastry (look for ‘taartdeeg’) from the supermarket.

Pie filling ingredients

• 180g / 1 1/2 cups Pumpkin flesh (pompoen)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (eieren)
• 120g / 2/3 cup brown sugar (bas­terd­sui­ker)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (kaneel)
• 1/4 tsp ginger (gember)
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (nootmuskaat)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (zout)
• 240ml / 1 cup whole milk (volle melk)
• 120ml / 1/2 cup whipping cream (slagroom)

This pumpkin pie filling recipe comes from Kate Aitken, Canadian kitchen goddess of the 40’s and 50’s whose no-nonsense cookbooks with basic ingredients earn a place in Canadian kitchens to this day.

So, forget about the canned spiced pumpkin pie filling and try this:Dutch markets have beautiful, strangely small but sweet pumpkins. To be on the safe side, buy two. The day before making the pie, stab a couple of holes in each, place them on a baking try and bake until they are soft. Let them cool and put them in the fridge.

When it is time to make the pie, cut open the pumpkins, discard the seeds, and scoop out all the flesh.

Add all the ingredients in to a large bowl and blend well using a blender or hand mixer. The recipe will work with lower fat milk and without cream. You can also make it less sweet, or be more generous with pumpkin; it is all down to personal taste.

Pour the pumpkin filling into the prepared pie crust and place into a preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 230C / 450F, then turn the heat down to 180C / 350F and bake for a further 25 minutes. The pie is ready when the filling is set. There are 6 servings.

This pie is the pride of the Canadian Thanksgiving table. Enjoy!