Donna Hay's Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar Mascarpone

I am crazy about pumpkin pie.  Every year around this time I start craving a slice of pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on top.  Since no one else in my family likes pumpkin pie I usually resort to picking up a slice from a bakery.  This year I decided I was going to treat myself and make a pumpkin pie.  By the end of the week I was an expert at rationalizing.  I manged to convince myself that a slice of this pumpkin pie was a perfectly suitable breakfast.

Thankfully, this pumpkin pie is very light and would be perfect to follow a heavy Thanksgiving dinner.  It's sweet, but not overly sweet, and is lightly spiced compared to other versions.  I fell in love with the smooth and creamy texture of this pie.  Normally I like a touch of whipped cream on top of my pumpkin pie, but when I saw the recipe for this brown sugar mascarpone topping I was very curious. Let's just say I love the brown sugar mascarpone.  I'm fairly certain you will too.

Pumpkin Pie

Adapted from Modern Classics Book 2

by Donna Hay

Serves 8

1 sheet of storebought pie crust or homemade, recipe below*

1 cup pumpkin puree or butternut squash puree, recipe below*

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs 

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

freshly grated nutmeg for serving, optional

*Notes: Donna's recipe actually calls for her homemade sweet shortcrust pastry, but I opted to use a store-bought pie crust because I had one on hand. The recipe also calls for 1 cup of pureed butternut pumpkin, directions for that below, but I opted to use 1 cup of canned pumpkin puree because I also had that on hand. 

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 1/8 inch thick.  Place in a 9 inch tart ring.  Line the pastry with non-stick baking paper and fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice or beans.  Bake for 10 minutes, remove the weights and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden.  Reduce the oven temperature to 300F.

To make the filling, place the pumpkin, sugar, eggs, cream and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Pour into the tart shell and bake for 50 minutes or until the filling is set.  Cool in the tin.  Sprinkle with nutmeg, slice and serve with brown sugar mascarpone.

*For the Butternut Squash Puree: Peel, chop and steam 1 pound of butternut squash until cooked.  Cool completely and puree in a food processor

*For the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry:  Process 2 cups plain all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 5 ounces of cold chopped butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  While the motor is running, add enough iced water to form a smooth dough and process until just combined.  Knead the dough lightly, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface or between sheets of non-stick baking paper until 1/8 inch thick, or whatever thickness required, and line the tart tin.  Bake as directed.

For the Brown Sugar Mascarpone:  Combine 2 cups mascarpone and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a bowl.  Spoon on top of the pumpkin pie or serve on the side.

Theme:Are You Calling Me A Tart?

***12 Weeks of Winter Squash***

This pumpkin pie is being linked to the 12 Weeks of Winter Squash Event hosted by my friends Heather and Joanne. Feel free to link up your winter squash dishes during the week at the linky below--or on one of the other participating blogs. Linky will open up at 12:01am on 11/18/13