Becky from the DS Gluten Free marketing department is inexperienced at cooking gluten free recipes, so we decided to put her (and one of the DS recipes!) to the test by asking her to make a special Halloween gluten free recipe and share her experiences . Find out how she got on in her blog below.

Scary because it’s Halloween (or because an inexperienced gluten free baker is making it) and pumpkin because it’s the main ingredient! For those of you who didn’t have chance to read about my first experience of gluten free baking, the famous Trufree Bourbon Biscuit Tiffin I’ll let you in on the little secret that I haven’t got a clue about cooking! This time I set myself the challenge of using gluten free pastry. I’d heard endless horror stories about baking gluten free pastry from scratch so I took advantage of the DS Gluten Free Shortcrust Pastry - frozen, ready to roll and of course gluten and wheat free! You can get it from Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose. Our nearest store is Sainsburys so on Sunday morning I set out in search of pumpkin and pastry!

Ingredients

• 200g pack of DS Gluten Free Shortcrust Pastry, defrosted. The best way to do this is to leave it in a fridge overnight or on a work surface for a couple of hours.
• 225g (8oz) peeled and deseeded pumpkin cut into cubes.
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 50g (2oz) soft light brown sugar
• 60ml (4 tbsp) double cream
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp Calvados or Brandy optional ( We have plenty at home so it seemed a shame not)

You'll also need a 20cm (8 inch) fluted flan tin. This forms the pastry into a nice crust, lack of home cooking in our house meant I had to resort to mum's non fluted (ideal for pasta bake) ceramic dish but this is still fine!

Method 

                                                             

 1. Place pastry on a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 minute, then roll out and line your baking tin. if you're unsure about how to use gluten free pastry check out this video recipe for mini savoury tartlets. The recipe uses the DS Gluten Free Shortcrust Pastry so you can see our home economist Gill in action!

 2. Once you’ve lined your pasta bake dish (I mean fluted flan tin!) with the gluten free pastry, place in the refrigerator to chill.


3. Preheat the oven to 200°C, 180°Fan, 400°F, Gas Mark 6.

4. At this point I started prodding the pumpkin with a bread knife wondering where on earth to start. I guessed, googled and finally phoned a friend who told me to "treat it like a melon". So I cut it in half, scraped out all of the seeds and juices and peeled off the hard edges. After that I was left with the nice fleshy part . Chop it up into cubes and make sure you have 225g (8 oz).

5. Once you've successfully cubed and weighed the pumpkin (half an hour later in my case) place it into salted boiling water for 10-15 minutes or untill tender.

6. Drain the pumpkin well and puree in a liquidiser or processor until smooth. VERY IMPORTANT to remember to put the lid on the liquidiser or the pumpkin juice will leap 4 foot into the air and land on your face and clothes…

7. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and Brandy to the pureed pumpkin and liquidise.

8. In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and cream then add the pureed mixture, combine together with a balloon whisk.

9. Pour the filling into the pastry case and level.

10. Pop the tin into the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until the filling is set, firm to the touch and golden brown. You’ll also notice that the kitchen smells like a giant scented candle from the cinnamon.



The pumpkin pie is best eaten when just warm and serves 4-6, so plate it up with the leftover double cream and enjoy! 





                Speaking of leftovers...                                  

To download a copy of the Scary Pumpkin Pie gluten free recipe click here or if you have any Halloween recipes or hints and tips on gluten free baking why not visit the Recipe Corner in the DS Gluten Free forum.






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