Thursday, November 7, 2013

AMAZING Pumpkin Pie with GingerSnap or Speculoos Crust 

Typically, I do not like Pumpkin Pie, actually I HATE Pumpkin Pie. I make it every Thanksgiving for people I love who Love it! Today, I had a Pumpkin Pie request at my Healthy Cooking class. So, I went for it. What a surprise! It was fantastic. I had 3 French, 1 Spanish and a non-cooking American raving. I used a straight edge cake pan instead of a typical American pie pan, like a small french art pan. This made it easier to press in the crust, and held more filling. You gotta try it.

Pumpkin Pie 
1 small cooking pumpkin (NOT a Halloween pumpkin)
3/4c raw cane sugar
1/4c maple syrup
3 eggs
1 cup soy milk or regular milk
1/2 cup soy cream or regular milk
1 Tablespoon melted coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ginger (or more to taste)

GingerSnap Crust 
24 gingersnaps or speculoos cookies, ground to a crumble
4 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or butter
2 tablespoons raw cane sugar (use only if cookies are not overly sweet)
pinch of seasalt

Start by preparing the pumpkin... 
Preparing Pumpkin 
Pre heat oven to 400F/200C.
Cut pumpkin in half. Take seeds out. Place flesh down (skin up) on a cookie sheet. Poke a few holes in the skin. Add a few TBLS of water to tray. Place in oven and roast until pumpkin is soft. Be careful when you open the oven door, the steam will shoot out in your face!

Now, prepare the crust... 
GingerSnap Crust
Add melted coconut oil/butter to the cookie crumbs.
Stir in sugar and seasalt.
Press into pie pan. Cook for 10 minutes. 350F/175C.
Cool in fridge until filling is ready.

Now make the filling...
Blend all ingredient together until very smooth. Pour into cooled crust. Cook at 350F/175C for 30-35 minutes, until the center is not liquid-y when you touch it. Serve warm!