Today we will prepare a fragrant autumn pie with pumpkin and orange — the perfect dessert for the cold season. It consists of a tender filling based on pumpkin puree and orange zest and crumbly shortcrust pastry. Even if you don't like pumpkin, this recipe may pleasantly surprise you.
Ingredients:
200 g flour 4 g baking powder a pinch of salt 60 g powdered sugar 100 g butter 1 egg (1s) 600 g pumpkin puree (without excess moisture!!!) 200 g cream cheese 150 g sugar 2 eggs (1s) 30 g starch a pinch of salt orange zest 1 tsp cinnamon 0.5 tsp ginger a pinch of nutmeg
Preparing the dough
Sift the flour into a bowl, add powdered sugar, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Add very cold butter, cut into small cubes. Rub everything by hand into fine crumbs or use a planetary mixer with a “paddle” attachment. A blender will also work — the main thing is that the butter does not have time to melt. The result should be a fine crumbly mass.
Add the cold egg and quickly knead the dough. Do not knead for long, otherwise gluten will start to develop, and the dough will become dense. As soon as the mass forms into a ball, stop mixing. Shape it into a ball, slightly flatten it, wrap it in plastic wrap or a bag, and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preparing the filling
For the filling, you need pumpkin puree. You can prepare it in a way that is convenient for you: boil, bake, or make it in the microwave — it’s quick and easy. After cooking, the pumpkin is easily peeled. Add sugar, cream cheese or soft cottage cheese, corn starch, eggs, a pinch of salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and orange zest to the puree. Whisk everything thoroughly until smooth.
Assembling the pie
Take the dough out of the refrigerator. If it is too hard, let it warm up a bit at room temperature. Sprinkle the work surface with flour and roll out the dough into a circle slightly larger than the diameter of the mold (a 24 cm mold with a height of 3.5 cm is used in the recipe). Carefully transfer the dough to the mold, spread it out, and press it against the sides. Trim the excess edges.
Pour the filling onto the base and smooth it out. Bake at 180 °C in “top-bottom” mode for about 40 minutes. After turning off the oven, slightly open it and leave the pie to cool for 10–15 minutes. It will rise a little during this time and then settle — this is normal.
Serving
Carefully remove the cooled pie from the mold. If it is ceramic, you can cut it directly in it. When warm, the dessert has a delicate creamy texture, and when completely cooled, it becomes denser. It is especially delicious when paired with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.
