Donna Hay's Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar Mascarpone

I am crazy about pumpkin pie.  Every year around this time I start craving a slice of pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on top.  Since no one else in my family likes pumpkin pie I usually resort to picking up a slice from a bakery.  This year I decided I was going to treat myself and make a pumpkin pie.  By the end of the week I was an expert at rationalizing.  I manged to convince myself that a slice of this pumpkin pie was a perfectly suitable breakfast.

Thankfully, this pumpkin pie is very light and would be perfect to follow a heavy Thanksgiving dinner.  It's sweet, but not overly sweet, and is lightly spiced compared to other versions.  I fell in love with the smooth and creamy texture of this pie.  Normally I like a touch of whipped cream on top of my pumpkin pie, but when I saw the recipe for this brown sugar mascarpone topping I was very curious. Let's just say I love the brown sugar mascarpone.  I'm fairly certain you will too.

Pumpkin Pie

Adapted from Modern Classics Book 2

by Donna Hay

Serves 8

1 sheet of storebought pie crust or homemade, recipe below*

1 cup pumpkin puree or butternut squash puree, recipe below*

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs 

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

freshly grated nutmeg for serving, optional

*Notes: Donna's recipe actually calls for her homemade sweet shortcrust pastry, but I opted to use a store-bought pie crust because I had one on hand. The recipe also calls for 1 cup of pureed butternut pumpkin, directions for that below, but I opted to use 1 cup of canned pumpkin puree because I also had that on hand. 

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 1/8 inch thick.  Place in a 9 inch tart ring.  Line the pastry with non-stick baking paper and fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice or beans.  Bake for 10 minutes, remove the weights and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden.  Reduce the oven temperature to 300F.

To make the filling, place the pumpkin, sugar, eggs, cream and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Pour into the tart shell and bake for 50 minutes or until the filling is set.  Cool in the tin.  Sprinkle with nutmeg, slice and serve with brown sugar mascarpone.

*For the Butternut Squash Puree: Peel, chop and steam 1 pound of butternut squash until cooked.  Cool completely and puree in a food processor

*For the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry:  Process 2 cups plain all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 5 ounces of cold chopped butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  While the motor is running, add enough iced water to form a smooth dough and process until just combined.  Knead the dough lightly, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface or between sheets of non-stick baking paper until 1/8 inch thick, or whatever thickness required, and line the tart tin.  Bake as directed.

For the Brown Sugar Mascarpone:  Combine 2 cups mascarpone and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a bowl.  Spoon on top of the pumpkin pie or serve on the side.

Theme:Are You Calling Me A Tart?

***12 Weeks of Winter Squash***

This pumpkin pie is being linked to the 12 Weeks of Winter Squash Event hosted by my friends Heather and Joanne. Feel free to link up your winter squash dishes during the week at the linky below--or on one of the other participating blogs. Linky will open up at 12:01am on 11/18/13

Yogurt and Blueberry Pie with Granola Crust

My Mom and I took my five year old son blueberry picking last week.  We were looking for something to do and we figured we'd give it a try and see if he liked it.  Between the two of us, we had no idea how much he was going to love blueberry picking.  It was actually really funny.  The entire time we were out there picking blueberries he was saying things like "this is the best day of my life" and "blueberry picking is so much fun" and "can we do this all the time".  He was on repeat over and over again and we had the best time. We picked several pounds of blueberries and ate most of them plain, or with whipped cream, or in smoothies.  I saved the rest for this pie.  It's something I've been wanting to make ever since I picked up a copy of Martha Stewart's Pies & Tarts cookbook.

This pie is fabulous.  It's basically a yogurt parfait turned into a pie. You could almost feel okay about eating it for breakfast.  The crust is a blend of granola (buy it or make your own), sugar, cinnamon and butter.  Once mixed, the crust is refrigerated (so that it holds together better) and then it's baked until fragrant.  When the crust is cooled, a cool and creamy mixture of strained plain yogurt and cream cheese is poured in and the whole thing is topped with fresh blueberries and honey.  It's easy, it's beyond delicious, and it's a dessert you don't have to feel too guilty about eating.

Blueberries are in season right now and I would recommend them for this pie, but any fruit (or blend of fresh fruit) would be great.  One of the things I like about this recipe is that you can change it up to suit your tastes.  

 

Yogurt and Blueberry Pie with Granola Crust

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Pies & Tarts

Makes One 9-inch Pie

For the Crust:

1-1/2 cups plain granola

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

1 cup plain yogurt

8 ounces cream cheese, room temp (I used reduced fat)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Topping:

5 ounces (1 cup) blueberries, picked over

Mild honey, such as acacia

Make the crust:  Preheat oven to 350F.  In a food processor, pulse 1 cup granola with the sugar and cinnamon until fine crumbs form.  Drizzle in butter, and process until combined.  Add remaining 1/2 cup granola, and process until combined but mixture is still crumbly.

Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, and press mixture evenly into bottom and up sides.  Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.  Bake until crust is golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the filling:  Place yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve set over a medium bowl; let drain at least 30 minutes.  Discard liquid.

With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat cream cheese until very smooth.  Add sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.  Add strained yogurt, and beat on low speed until smooth.

Pour filling into prepared crust, and refrigerate until set, 6 hours or up to 1 day.  Just before serving, arrange blueberries on top, drizzle with honey, and cut into wedges.