Thanksgiving has been a favourite celebration of mine ever since I spent it with my friend Andrew’s uncle, Bill, and his family in Chattanooga, Tennessee. As was customary back then, Bill deep-fried a turkey in a vat of oil in the garden (which Bosco, the dog, jumped circles around), while the rest of us prepared a parade of vegetables to go alongside. After lunch, we drank moonshine, cut discount vouchers for Black Friday from the local paper and ate a glorious homemade pumpkin pie not unlike this one, piled high with boozy tufts of cream.
Pumpkin pie with caramelised maple pecans
You’ll need a food processor, a 22cm x 3½cm-high pie dish (ideally with a removable bottom) and some baking beans (or dried lentils and beans) for blind baking the pastry case. Pumpkin puree is available from most major UK supermarkets, but do check that the filling is 100% pumpkin and nothing else. I like America’s Finest or Libby’s. Bourbon cream is ideal for serving: to make it, whip 250m vegan cream of your choice (I like Oatly) to soft peaks, then fold in a tablespoon each of icing sugar and bourbon whiskey.
Prep 15 min
Chill 30 min
Cook 2 hr
Cool 2 hr+
Serves 8
For the pastry
150g plain flour
2 tbsp (30g) light brown soft sugar
½ tsp fine sea salt
75g cold unsalted vegan butter, cubed
Whipped vegan bourbon cream, to serve (optional; see recipe introduction)
For the maple pecans
100g pecans
75ml maple syrup
A pinch of fine sea salt
For the pumpkin filling
1 x 425g tin pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
125g light brown soft sugar
½ tsp fine sea salt
3 tbsp cornflour
To make the pastry, put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times just to combine. Add the butter and blitz for 30 or so seconds, until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add a tablespoon and a half of cold water, pulse again just until the dough comes together, then stop – don’t overprocess it, or the pastry will be tough. Tip out the dough on to a work surface, then use your hands to bring it together into a disc. Wrap in a sheet of greaseproof paper large enough later to cover the tart base with plenty of excess, then put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. In the meantime, make the pecans and filling. Line a small baking tray with a sheet of baking paper and add the pecans. Pour over the maple syrup and mix with a spoon until the nuts are well coated. Bake for 10 minutes, stir to mix again, then bake for a final five minutes. Transfer the nuts to a plate to cool down and sprinkle over a pinch of sea salt. Once cool, roughly chop the pecans, wrap and set aside until serving (don’t put them in the fridge).
Put all the pumpkin filling ingredients in a bowl, whisk until smooth and put to one side.
Take the dough out of the fridge, then unwrap, keeping the paper. On a clean, floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 32cm-diameter circle. Using the rolling pin to help you, carefully lift the pastry circle into the pie tin, then, using your thumbs, gently help it into the edges and up the sides.
Run a sharp knife around the outside rim of the tin, to trim off any excess pastry. Once lined, lay the reserved baking paper on top of the pastry and fill with baking beans or similar. Pop on to a larger tray (if your pie dish has a removable bottom), blind bake for 15 minutes, then check how it’s doing: once the pastry is starting to look pale beige in colour, lift out the paper and beans.
Pour the filling into the pie case, then tap the tin on the counter a couple of times, to disperse any bubbles. Bake for an hour, then remove and leave to cool. Refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight, before serving.
To serve the pie, transfer it to a plate, scatter over the pecans and serve with whipped bourbon cream, if you wish.