And fear is all gone........ Eggless Pumpkin Pie

Finally I made The egg less Pumpkin Pie this Thanksgiving(after 4 years of will try next time) and the fear of eggless custard based pie is over and I’ve got the confidence that custard based pies can  be made eggless too. Also sharing a secret.....I was always doubtful until now that how pumpkin can taste good in dessert. So, was it good..... Of course it tasted good that's the reason I'm writing this post (though the picture didn't came out very good). Little help from the Internet and decided on using corn starch(corn flour) as egg substitute. Only problem the pie crimp(edges of the crust) came out little extra dark but the pie custard as well as crust tasted very good and did bring million dollar smile on my 8 yr. old face. Custard filling tasted very smooth & creamy and no taste of corn starch(that was my biggest fear it gonna taste chalky), crust was really flaky though I had reduced the butter as compared to original recipe. Now about the crimp, after thanksgiving was over I was looking at my local grocery shop ad page and I saw that they sell pie crust shield which covers the edges so that they don't over brown....oh !! so it looks like a common problem.

I used the recipe from Libby's can of pumpkin puree as a base and tweaked it a bit as I wanted eggless pie and also there were few things in the fridge which needed to be taken care of ASAP. So here's my version for 9 inch pie....

What U need :
For Crust :I used the Pate Brisee(short crust pastry) recipe from Joy of Baking but changed the amount of fat used in it.

• 1 & 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
• 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled & cut into samll cubes
• 2 tablespoon vegetable shortening ( I used it cold cut into 5-6 pieces)
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup ice cold water

For Custard :

• 1 can(15 oz.) pumpkin puree(next time I'm sure I'm gonna make fresh puree)
• roughly 2/3 of a can condensed milk (it must have been 8-9 oz. as full can was of 14 0z.)
• 1 small can(5 oz.) evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoon ricotta cheese
• 4 tablespoon corn flour(corn starch)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ginger powder(i used sund from my spice rack)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp. all spice powder(can be easily substituted with clove powder)

Note : 1. I'm not using any sugar as I'm using sweet condensed milk.

2. If only evaporated milk is used U need to add sugar.
3. If only condensed milk is used I guess quantity of corn starch can be reduced by a tablespoon or so.

What U do:
For Crust :

1. Using a food processor mix flour salt and sugar for few seconds.
2. Add butter and shortening, process it using pulse setting for around 15 seconds. Mixture will look like coarse meal.
3. Add water to this mixture while the processor is running. U might not have to use all the water, start with small quantity & add only a tablespoon at a time till the dough comes together, it will be still crumbly kind & not smooth but that is the perfect dough for pie. This process should not take more than 30-40 seconds.
4. Take out the dough mixture on the work surface & gather it into round ball & flatten it a bit into disk and cover it tightly with plastic wrap & let it chill in the fridge for around an hour. I kept it overnight. Important : while working with pie dough try to handle it as less as possible because body heat from hands can melt the butter which can lead to hard crust instead of flaky crust.

For Custard :

1. Mix corn flour with evaporated milk, making sure there are no lumps. Keep it aside.
2. Mix Pumpkin puree & ricotta cheese. Use food processor if cheese is not mixing smoothly. I did not used any, there were few white specs of  chesse bits in pie but taste wise it was smooth and final output was creamy.
3. Mix corn flour mixture from step 1 with pumpkin puree mixture from step 2, mix in all the spices using a whisk and the custard is ready to be poured into the pie shell. At this point if U want it can be refrigerated also.

For Assembling & Baking Pie :

1. Once U are ready to assemble the pie, take chilled dough out & sprinkle some flour on the work surface.
2. Roll the dough into 13 inch circle( please check the original recipe for details about rolling the pie dough) and transfer it to pie pan.
3. Make some pattern on the edges or trim them....your choice. I did made some leaves with x'tra dough & attached them using little water but as I mentioned over browning of edges` was the only problem with my pie so I actually trimmed the edges before serving.
4. Cover it with plastic wrap & chill it for around half an hour. And while U put the pie crust in the fridge to chill take out the custard from the fridge if U prepared it ahead of time,using whisk mix it thoroughly to make sure that ingredients are not settled down.
5. When ready to bake preheat oven to 425 degree take the pie crust out & pour the custard into it.
6. Bake for 15 minutes in 425 degree oven & then turn down the temperature to 350 degree bake for another 40-45 minutes.
7. To check the doneness, knife inserted about 1 inch from the side of the pan should come out clean, center will still look wet, but in my case I baked it for total of 60 minutes(15 at 425 degree + 45 at 350 degree) and centre was also set properly. I'm not sure how it works for pie with eggs or for that matter eggless also as this was my first trial of any custard based pie. cool it on wire rack. Serve it as is or with some freshly whipped cream.

Useful Tip : I prepared the custard & pie dough a night before thanksgiving, assemble and baked the pie next day, saved me time on busy thanksgiving day. To store the custard keep it in the airtight container inside the fridge. For storing the dough, wrap the dough in plastic wrap & refrigerate it.

Sending this creamy custard & flaky crust pie to Champa's weekly bake-off and also to Suma of Cakes and More who's hosting a giveaway of  "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum for her first blog anniversary celebration, Happy Blog Anniversary Suma. And if U like to bake I'm sure these are the blogs worth visiting.