Halloween Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin pies
Halloween Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin pies - creepy (or cute - your choice!) pumpkin pies for Halloween.
Servings 8 people
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 480 g (4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 60 g (½cup) icing (powdered) sugar
- 280 g (2 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter cubed
- 1 Tablespoon cold vodka (optional)
- 1-2 Tablespoons ice water
- 1 Tablespoon non-dairy milk for brushing
Filling:
- one 425 g (15oz) can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 260 g (9 oz) firm silken tofu
- 150 g (¾ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) maple syrup
- 40 g (4 packed Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Place the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl and stir well. Add the cubed butter and rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs and no large lumps of butter remain. Add the vodka (if using) and mix in well then gradually add enough ice cold water to bring the pastry together into a ball.
- Divide the pastry into two pieces, one a little more than two-thirds and one a little less. Shape each into a disc and wrap in clingfilm, refrigerate for half an hour.
- Remove the larger piece of pastry from the fridge and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Shape each one into a ball and roll out to about 3mm/1/8 inch thick and wide enough to line a 10cm/4 inch tart tin. Press the pastry into the tin and leave the excess overhanging. Repeat with the remaining balls of pastry. Place the tart shells in the freezer for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Line each tart with a double layer of good quality clingfilm or a piece of baking parchment and fill with either ceramic baking beans or dry rice, fold the clingfilm over the top. I prefer to use rice as baking beans can leave imprints in the pastry.
- Bake the tarts for 15 minutes then remove the baking beans/rice and clingfilm/parchment and return the tarts to the oven for 10 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the tarts from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes then use a sharp serrated knife to carefully trim off the excess pastry.
- To make the filling, place the pumpkin puree, silken tofu, cornflour (cornstarch), sugar, maple syrup, spices, vanilla and salt in a blender and blitz until totally smooth. Carefully pour the filling into the tart shells; depending on the depth of your tart tins you may have a little filling left over.
- Bake the tarts for 20-30 minutes until they are set but still have a slight wobble in the centre. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- While the pies are cooling make the Jack-O-Lanterns. Roll out the remaining disc of pastry to 3mm/1/8 inch thick and use an approx 9.5cm/3 + ¾ inch pumpkin shaped cookie cutter to cut as many pumpkin shapes as you can. Re-roll the trimmings to cut out more shapes; you will need 8 for the pies but it is a good idea to have a couple extra, in case some of your pumpkin faces go wrong. If you don't have a pumpkin shaped cutter then you can use a round one instead.
- Place the pumpkins on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer for 15 minutes. Work with one pumpkin at a time, leave the rest in the freezer (they thaw quickly and are easiest to carve when frozen). Now it's time to use your best pumpkin carving skills! Use a sharp paring knife to carefully cut out Jack-O-Lantern faces; if you are struggling for inspiration then there are lots of ideas on Google!
- Return the pumpkins to the freezer for 15 minutes. Brush the pumpkins with the milk then bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- To serve, carefully turn the pies out of the tins and top each one with a Jack-O-Lantern. Keep refrigerated and eat within three days.
Notes
- See post above for tips, deatils and step-by-step photos.
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- For the filling you need to use firm silken tofu, which is usually the shelf-stable kind, not the fridge kind. In the UK it can usually be found either in the ‘Asian’ section of the supermarket (by the soy sauce), or next to the tinned beans.
- Let the pies cool completely at room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator to chill. This helps prevents them from cracking.