Pumpkin pie

We're having a bit of a pie fest at the moment. Always on the look out for a pumpkin recipe, yes we're not sick of them yet, here is one I made the other night. Pastry got a little over brown on the edges, but the taste was good.

500g cooked mashed pumpkin
90g sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 eggs
160ml evaporated milk
125ml milk

Pastry for a double crust pie:
250g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
155g cold butter
60-90ml ice cold water

Make pastry and chill.

In a large bowl mix pumpkin, sugar, spices. Add eggs and beat until combined. Gradually add evaporated milk and milk. Mix well.

Line a 23cm pie plate with pastry. I made leaf shapes to put round the edge to build up the sides if I made the pie again I might not do this as it was a bit fiddly, plus they caught on the oven rack when I took it out.

Pour the filling into the pastry. If using leaves to decorate cook these separately on a baking sheet for about 15 mins then place on top of cooked pie.

Cover edges with foil to prevent over browning (cut out a hole from a square of foil) and cook at 190C for about 25 mins. Remove foil and cook for a further 25 mins until a knife inserted near the middle comes out clean.
Cool on rack for 1hr, then chill for 3-6 hrs.

Turnip harvest

Here is our very first turnip harvest. We've not grown them before. I pulled them when they were quite small, around 5cm diameter, this plateful was 300g worth. The variety is Tokyo White Cross F1. Strangely they seemed to be growing on top rather than under the soil, I'm not sure if this is normal, or maybe I made some mistake in planting. The other variety I have growing, Milan White Red Top, seems to be growing under the soil as one would expect. Anyhow they tasted just fine, peeled, quartered, fried in oil and then added to a goat curry that I made in the slow cooker.

Blackberry and apple pie

We have a lot of apples on hand (in the 2nd fridge) mainly as we like to buy in bulk from a good grocer. So I made this pie the other night.


350g plain flour
150g cold butter, cubed
100ml ice-cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 apples (recipe said Granny Smiths but I only had dessert apples - Pink Lady)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
250g frozen or fresh blackberries
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
100g caster sugar, and extra for sprinkling on top
2 Tbsp cornflour
1 egg white, lightly beaten

I made the pastry by hand (since my food processor is in storage) rubbing in the flour and butter, then adding the water and egg.
I peeled and sliced the apples, then mixed them with lemon juice, added the blackberries, cinnamon, sugar and cornflour.
Once the pastry had chilled for a while I rolled it out to fit my pie dish, added the filling then topped it off with more pastry. Then brushed the top with the egg white and sprinkled a little more caster sugar on top.
Cooked for40 mins at 190c.

Verdict: looked nice, but the apples were crunchy - maybe because of the variety I used, or maybe too much filling? The following night I reheated the pie in the oven for a while and the apple was a bit softer. If I made it again I'd probably cook the apple first.