My Polish Pumpkin Pie

Wanting to share a little of the American tradition with his co-workers, Troy asked if I could bake a pumpkin pie. I figured this favor would either be easy or not so easy based on what ingredients I could find. In the end, it ended up being somewhere in the middle and completely fun at any rate. With a couple off the cuff substitutions, a squash that I wasn't sure how closely related to pie pumpkin (or even pumpkin at all), and a consultation with my mom (the queen of pumpkin pie), we have Polish Pumpkin Pie.

   In trade for my pie baking services, I treated myself to the beautiful pie tin above... Let me explain. I figured if I was going to buy a tin, I might as well get one that I could cherish upon our return to the states.  So, I walked to a little shop in town that sells only pottery from Boleslawiec. (This pottery is so beautiful and the history is fantastic, it's worthy of it's own post and is on my to-do list.)

   The lady asked what I was looking for and I informed her of my need for a pie plate. She replied "of course" and took to digging through the pottery to find me my plate. She excitedly handed me this and I must have looked at her funny because she then said "to bake a pie, correct?". I immediately fell in love with the dish and decided that even if I couldn't use it for my pie, I had to have it.

   I purchased my dish and ventured to the lovely little shop on my way home that sells only knives, tea pots, cooking and baking ware, and some gadgets to grab a pastry blender and an actual pie plate. Pastry blender, yes. Pie plate, looks like in this country of the most beautiful tortes, this was as round as I was going to get. And with some wisdom from my dad that "pie are square", it was just time to wing it.

   From childhood on, my holiday season has always began with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. With stores open here today, the world continuing on like a normal day and no parade, it doesn't quite feel like the holiday season. And even though we won't be having a holiday dinner, the smell of this pie in the oven at one in the morning last night, made everything right.

   If you are curious, following is my recipe. I did make a mini rustic pie out of the pastry scraps and a splash of filling for Lottie and I to share. We have already enjoyed our mini pie with our morning coffee and as your day arrives, I hope you enjoy your pie as well.

Polish Pumpkin Pie

12  oz. maka puszysta tortowa 450 (flour)
1   tsp. sea salt
7   oz. maslo zawartość tłuszczu 82%, cold (butter)
4   oz. ice cold water
FILLING:
1-3/4 lb. roasted mashed dynia (pumpkin, almost 4 cups)
21  oz. evaporated milk
6.6 oz. light muscovado sugar (light brown sugar)
0.4  oz. maka kukurydziana (corn flour)
3-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 eggs, whisked

Stir the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until there are no large pieces remaining. Gradually stir in the water with a fork until a dough begins to form. Divide into two disks; wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

   In a large bowl, whisk the filling ingredients. Roll the pastry on a flour dusted surface into 1/8-in. thick sheets (give them a turn occassionnaly to ensure they aren't sticking to the surface). Transfer to a baking dish with ends overlapping and overhanging edge of dish. (My dish is about 11 in. x 7 in. at the bottom and about 13 x 9 at the top.) Trim pastry to top of dish. Add filling. Roll pastry down to top of filling and crimp.

   Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 40 minutes or until the center still has some jiggle. Cool before serving with whipped cream. Serves: 16

My crazy notes:

Beings the pastry is the best part of the pie and the center pieces wouldn't have an edge, I made leaf cutouts from the scraps, brushed with milk and sprinkled with course sugar and then baked until golden. Then arranged over the baked pie so that each piece would also have a pastry piece.

You can also use this recipe to bake two round pies. No real adjustments needed.

To roast the pumpkin, cut into wedges and scrape out the insides. Then cut off the peel and cut the squash into cubes about 1-inch in size. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for about 30 minutes or until tender. Then mash. Drain off any liquid before adding to the filling ingredients.

My only measuring device here is a scale, hence the weights. I'm actually loving this method as it's pretty efficient. Just add the ingredient to the bowl. Tare the weight and add the next ingredient. In the end the only thing to wash is the bowl.

The corn flour should really be cornstarch, which is what I thought I purchased but didn't... But the corn flour was actually very nice (not corn meal). The flour selections here are abundant so it is taking a little effort to learn and select the proper ones. The butter selection here is also crazy, with different fat contents based on whether you're using it for baking or spreading on sandwiches. The evaporated milk here is sold in cartons in the refrigerated section, took effort to find when we were looking for a can!