Pumpkin, silly costumes, candy and more pumpkin. All I know about Halloween is what I have seen on American TV. It looks like fun and it’s reason enough to bake a pumpkin pie.

The recipe below is based on Marion Cunningham’s pumpkin pie recipe published in Saveur. I upgraded the pastry to a rich sweet shortcrust pastry, using the recipe from the Ripailles cookbook. My own personal flourish is the sticky maple pecans.

It wasn’t until I was eating it that it occurred to me that I should have added a boozy element. Perhaps a bourbon spiked whipped cream.

Do you love pumpkin? Then check out the October Photo Challenge at Junglefrog Cooking. You’ll be able to see lots of great photos from many talented bloggers and this month is all about pumpkin.

Rich Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

125g butter
70g caster sugar
50g ground pecans
250g flour
1 egg

Mix softened butter with the sugar and ground pecans. Add the flour; mix. Add the egg and very lightly knead until smooth.

This pastry is very delicate so I find it is much easier to roll the dough between two pieces of cling film. Once the pastry has been rolled into the required size and thickness, remove the top layer of cling film. The piece of cling film underneath can be used as a backing piece to make it easier to ease the pastry into the pie dish or flan tin. I used a 22.5cm/9 inch loose bottom flan tin. It’s likely that the pastry will still break apart. Don’t worry, it’s a very soft pastry so you can just squish it back together. Chill for at least one hour before blind baking the pastry shell.

Filling
900g/2lbs pumpkin (I used Kent)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh ginger
pinch cloves
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt

Cut the pumpkin into large pieces and remove the seeds. Steam until very tender. Cool. Remove the skin. Puree.
Mix 1 1/2 cups of the puree with the remaining ingredients until smooth.
Pour the filling into the pastry case and bake for 45 minutes at 180C/350F.

Maple Pecans

130g pecans
1/4 cup maple syrup

Lightly toast the pecans in dry non stick frypan over medium heat. Pour the maple syrup into the pan, toss the pecans to coat and heat until hot and bubbling.