Pupmpink Pie, the origin of American pumpkin pie
Saying pumpkin pie for someone can mean celebrating Halloween, but it's not that good, as the origin of this spiced cake is actually a little different.
Very popular in Canada and the United States, little known in other countries of the world, the pumpkin pie is usually served during Thanksgiving Day, or the day of Thanksgiving, a feast of Christian origin that falls every fourth Thursday of November for the America and every second Thursday of October for Canada.
During this day we celebrate the gratitude towards God for what was received during the past year and, above all in the times of the pilgrim fathers, for how much he gave the harvest.
The origin of this cake dates back to the seventeenth century and we must move to North America, where the pumpkins grew.
The first settlers used to cook the pumpkin by crushing and reducing it to a puree, flavoring it with spices and herbs, and they served it directly inside the peel itself, which was carefully dug.
We have to wait for the beginning of the nineteenth century to read in the American cookbooks the sweet recipe with pasta dough as we know it today, to be consumed on the evening of Thanksgiving.
Pumpkin pie recipe, American pumpkin pie
In some books and online recipes you can read typical American ingredients, such as "Crisco shortening", a kind of vegetable butter, or "evaporated milk", a kind of condensed milk and still prepared pumpkin pulp sold in cans and molasses at place of sugar.
In order to avoid complicating your life (and health!) We propose here the "Italianized" recipe, with the freshest and most easily available ingredients .
Ingredients (round baking pan of 24cm in diameter)
For the stuffing
> 500 grams of American pumpkin puree;
> 150 grams of cane sugar;
> 2 whole eggs;
> 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder;
> half a teaspoon of powdered or freshly grated ginger;
> a pinch of ground cloves;
> a pinch of nutmeg;
> 100 grams of fresh liquid cream.
For the pastry
> 100 grams of cold butter;
> 250 grams of 00 flour;
> 1 egg and 1 yolk;
> 100 grams of icing sugar.
Preparation of short pastry
On the pastry board, combine flour, diced butter and sugar, sifting it well.
Knead with the fingertips, gradually adding the eggs.
Create a ball to wrap in plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge for half an hour.
Preparation of the filling
In the meantime recover the pumpkin puree (which can be obtained by cooking the pumpkin in the oven or by steam), mash it well with the mashed potatoes, add the sugar, the eggs and work well.
Now add the spices : ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Whip the cream firmly with an electric whisk, add it to the mixture.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and place it in a tart mold of around 24 centimeters, making sure to decorate the edge well.
Pour the pumpkin cream and bake in a preheated static oven at 160 ° C for about 60 minutes, adding a few minutes at 180 ° C to brown the surface.
Serve once cold, accompanied by tufts of fresh cream.
Read: "America's Best Pies: Nearly 200 Recipes You'll Love" by American Pie Council, Linda Hoskins
