My little sister Gabe, who is developing a farm in New Zealand, wrote to me yesterday, asking for our Mums Pumpkin Pie recipe. Coincidentally my little brother T asked for the recipe a couple of weeks ago as well. And yes they are both Littlies. You will remember the Littlies from the beach house stories. This pumpkin pie is creamy and fresh and pumkin-y without all the strong spices. No wonder it was a favourite in our house. 
Mum loved the taste of pumpkin and so only scared the pie with a little freshly grated nutmeg, and a few drops of good vanilla, enhancing the rich pumpkin taste. It has a sugar free pastry base and is topped with a coconutty meringue. I am fairly sure I have got this right but you know our mother. She never cooked the same thing the same way twice.
Pastry.
My rule of thumb for pastry is: half butter, half flour and a little ice cold water to mix. So, in a food processor:
- 40z butter (previously chopped and chilled in the freezer),
- 1 big cup flour. Pulse.
- 2-3 tablespoons iced water
- Pulse until you get a wet breadcumby look, shape into a ball, rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, then roll out and bake blind in a pie dish. Cool. You all know this anyway. Mum probably bought frozen pastry sheets, this was the 70’s after all.
Filling
- 4 cups cooked and cooled and roughly mashed pumpkin
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- a breath of freshly grated nutmeg. This is an accent NOT a taste. It should lift the dish not dominate it. Like the third note of a perfume. With Mums pumpkin pie you can taste the sweet pumpkin. (Told you it was different)
In a small bowl mix :
- 1 cup sultanas,
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar, though I use honey.
- 1 tablespoon flour
Add to pumpkin mixture.
Meringue
See the meringue recipe and then add in 1/4 cup of shredded coconut. Fold in gently.
SO: Pour the cool pumpkin mixture into the cooked pastry shell, spoon the meringue on top. Sprinkle a little coconut on top.
Cook at 325F ( 175C ) or lower. (So the meringue does not brown too much.) For about 45 minutes. For Gabe we pull it out of the oven now as she likes her meringue, soft and fluffy.
I like the meringue crunchy and caramelly, so I turn the oven off and leave the pie in there for another hour to dry right out. 
YUM!
John is appalled of course as coconut and sultanas and meringue do not belong in pumpkin pie. Then he popped a huge slice in his lunchbox and said it was OK for me to make it again for Thankgiving. So it cannot be that bad!
Frozen thistle from the our morning walk.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “Mama’s Retro Pumpkin Pie: can you bear it?”
Wow! That is the most unique pumpkin pie I’ve ever seen! DH is not a fan of pumpkin so it probably won’t ever be made. But will keep the crust recipe on standby. I am in the mind to try and make a sweet potato pie and spring that on him, once I learn how to make one. My grandmother is shaking her head at me now for that. t
Now that it is getting colder and I have some lamb in the freezer we will be making some pasties, he will like those! c
Celi, you have David’s worst nightmares all together in one dish – he does not like pumpkin or coconut! I would try it though 🙂
Oh no, poor David!! It is a funny thing with old family recipes designed by the mother. She will add all the stuff she knows you will eat so that she can sneak in a vegetable.. hence the coconut, meringue on top of pumpkin! c
Ooh, loving the idea of meringue on top of the pie! Great recipe C.
🙂 Mandy
Thank you Mandy, it was fun to get back in the kitchen again! c
Wow, the meringue is very interesting!
My Mother just loved meringue. c
I have 6 cups of pureed pumpkin in my freezer from my six-man crews’ sensory exploration of pumpkins. We did make one no-egg, no-nuts, low-sugar pumpkin pie to share for afternoon snack. But this pie? Oh, this one will be for me 🙂
Make pumpkin soup with it, it is really simple and the kids will love it because it is Orange! c
I’m keeping that pie crust recipe for future use. Brilliant. No sugar, which is a rarity nowadays. You’d think that manufacturers believed that a product is tasteless unless it sparkles with sugar. Thanks for that one, Celi! 😀
ps – Do you use those beans in the crust when you blind bake it? I don’t have any. Can I use real dried beans?
I just used dried black beans. Any beans will do. I did not even have any parchment paper so I just greased some tin foil and poured the beans into it. And from now on this is what i shall do, The tin foil was excellent and i did not have that problem of beans flying everywhere when you try to get them all back out. You can still use the beans to cook with afterwards too.. c
This looks so perfect, I have decided that I will make pumpkin pie for my Australian family this year, after trying last Christmas in America…. but I know for a fact it won’t be looking anything near as amazing as this!
I am sure yours will be very good, you are a wonderful cook and the aussies will love your pie too! c
Very unusual recipe—and perfect for November! Thanks to you and your mom.
It certainly is a seasonal dish, and now that Halloween is over with, we can look to Thanksgiving .. a wonderful reason to celebrate. I am looking forward to some historical stories about it!! ! c
Pumpkin pies aren’t very common over here, don’t ask me why. I love it since a good friend originally from the US started to celebrate thanksgiving on annual basis and invited us over to have pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, turkey and brownies until we would explode. This pie looks awesomely delish, I’m certainly gonny try it out!
They are not very common in NZ either, My Mum just made it so that we would eat the pumpkin. In fact dessert pies in general are very American. Which is lovely. Let me know how yours turns out Nikkie. Maybe you can surprise your US friends with a NZ pumpkin pie, that would be a laugh! c
How unique your Mama’s pumpkin pie! I’ve only used canned pumpkin for my pies as I felt the fresh pumpkin to be fiberous? But looking at this pie, with the sultanas, I could so see using the fresh pumpkin for a whole new twist to my pie!
The raisins or sultanas allow you to cut down on the sugar too. c
A breath of nutmeg – how beautiful! I love anything meringue pies…delicious 🙂
My Mother also grated her nutmeg straight into the dish. She would have nothing to do with that dried up, ground up excuse for nutmeg, that came in a packet. Freshly grated is quite a different taste. c
Oh, good! Someone else who uses meringue ‘where it doesn’t belong’…
That’s what I’ve always been told about the family Chocolate Cream Pie recipe – seriously? Cool Whip? *shudder*
This is the best-sounding pumpkin pie recipe I’ve ever seen!
Like you – Cool Whip would never get through my door! That is right down there with margarine in my book! c
That pie sounds delicious!
Thank you Mad, i am licking my spoon as i write this morning! c
Yummy! This recipe looks amazing Celi. We don’t celebrate thanks giving at home, but there’s no need for an excuse to have a slice of this baby 😉
We don’t have thanksgiving in NZ either, so like you we get to eat pumpkin pie whenever we want to! I like the idea of thanksgiving though. c
It looks very pretty!
Thank you Cindy. Your roses are prettier!! c