One Thing Aussies Don’t Take the Piss Out of: American Punkin’ Pie

Photography by Kim Mennan, Styling by Ali Nardi

First, I want to give a big thank you to photographer Kim Mennen, who has done some gorgeous photography for For the Love of Cabbage. She is super talented, and I am thrilled to have her on board! So thank you Kim!  To check out some of her other work, go here.

Now onto to that Punkin’ Pie….

Thanksgiving in Australia has been a bit of a dud so far. It’s my least favorite holiday politically, but far and away my favorite holiday for the food and it’s always a hard one to be away for. The food, however, is incredibly heavy, and it is crazy hot here in Australia by November. Understandably, I don’t want to spend all day sweating it out like the would-be-turkey in the oven in the summer.

So since my time here–(over a year and a half! cray cray….) I have been sneaking snippets of a the traditional thanksgiving meal into my everyday cooking. By snippets, I mean going straight to the best part: The Pumpkin Pie (although I am quite partial to sweet potato with marshmallow as well– yeah i know it sounds weird but it is seriously good).

Pumpkin Pie isn’t “a thing” here, and it’s almost funny how excited everyone gets when I make it. It is an American novelty, as is the way I say “coffee” apparently. Luckily, it lives up to the hype and everyone loves it. So I’m providing the recipe here–perhaps a bit late as Spring is upon us, but the weather is still a bit nippy. And since this one has coconut in it and it’s great cold from the fridge, why shouldn’t pumpkin pie be a hot weather food? I’ve managed to turn it into a breakfast staple at ours…

I don’t muck around with the concept of pumpkin pie too much. It’s one of those things that is great as is, and in my opinion, attempts to jazz it up just don’t really make it any more special than the straightforward version. So my approach to the pumpkin pie was to make it healthier, while making it taste as similar to the original, which was surprisingly easy. It is dairy free, gluten free, and if you are counting honey as Paleo, it’s Paleo as well.

It’s one of those cases where the back of the can got it right. I defer completely to LIBBY’s Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe, cause that Libby knows what she’s talking about. I just toggled a few things:

• -The condensed milk gets switched out for coconut milk to make it dairy free and add the benefits of coconut
• the sugar gets swapped out for honey
• I use steamed pumpkin (squash), or sweet potato, or a combo of the two instead of the canned stuff (which honestly isn’t that bad…)
• And the crust is a protein packed and healthy gluten free almond meal and coconut crust

I tried almond meal based crust recipes and had to make a few tweaks to get it to a good place, but I’m feeling good about this one, which is based on a recipe from Elana’s Pantry. It doesn’t deliver the same firm texture as a traditional crust, but it tastes great and gets a nice gentle crunch around the edges.

I’m not a huge fan of healthy versions of desserts that don’t taste like they should. I’d rather just not have dessert at all if it doesn’t taste like a dessert. And that’s why I’m sharing this pie recipe. It is right on the mark. I suggest serving it without letting everyone know you’ve adjusted it, so the skeptics won’t go in biased.

As they say here, this dish is a cracker!

Eat it for Breakfast Pumpkin Pie

Adapted from the recipe on the back of the can of LIBBY’S canned pumpkin/ Crust adapted from Elana’s Pantry

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• standard 9-inch pie dish
• 1 1/2 cups almond meal
• 1/2 cup dessicated unsweetened coconut
• ½ teaspoon good salt
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

For the filling:

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups mashed pumpkin (squash) or sweet potato (start with 1 1/4 lbs to get 1 1/2 cups– peel, steam, and mash with fork)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup honey (if you like less sweet, subtract 2 tblspn)
• 1 cup coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/ 175 C
2. For the crust: In a bowl, combine almond meal, dessicated coconut, and salt. Add egg and coconut oil and mix to blend. Use fingers if needed. Press into a pie dish and blind bake for 12-15 minutes, until firm. Allow to cool completely.
3. For the filling, mix ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Pour into cooled pie crust. Place on baking tray and bake for 60-70 minutes or until center doesn’t jiggle. Allow to cool completely.
4. In cooler weather, just leave it out for a few hours. In warmer weather, pop into the fridge for a few hours. Then serve with whipped cream, or if avoiding dairy, whip up some coconut cream.