Here’s a probiotic addition to a classic autumn/winter dessert recipe. It’s a from-scratch pumpkin pie with a graham cracker or gingersnap cookie crust and pumpkin custard made with dairy kefir. You could use any sweet winter squash variety such as butternut or the #trending honeynut.
Serve with kefir ice cream, or lavender-infused whipped cream
Kefir Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 200 g (7 oz.) graham crackers or gingersnap cookies
- 35 g (1 ¼ oz.) grass-fed butter
- 15 g (1/2 oz.) fresh ginger root
- 10 g (1 Tbsp.) dark brown sugar
Filling
- 450 g (1 lb.) pumpkin or other winter squash, cooked and pureed
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) milk kefir
- 3 chicken eggs
- 120 g (3/4 cup) dark brown sugar
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) heavy (whipping) cream
- 2 ml (1/4 tsp.) sea salt
- 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp.) fresh nutmeg
Optional
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) pomegranate arils
Instructions
Blind Bake crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Melt butter.
- Grate ginger. Add to bowl of a food processor.
- Add graham crackers and 1 Tbsp (10g) brown sugar to bowl and pulse a few times to crush.
- Drizzle melted butter into food processor while continuing to chop. Finished consistency should resemble wet, fluffy sand.
- Pour crumb mixture into a 9-inch round pie pan. Use a mason jar, mug or other heavy flat bottomed tool to press the crumb into the pan, forming a crust along the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
- Blind bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes.
Filling
- Heat the pumpkin puree on medium-high heat until it starts to boil, about 5 minutes.
- Add the kefir, cream, salt, and fresh-grated nutmeg to pumpkin. Simmer another 10 minutes. Let mixture cool 10 minutes.
- Remove yolk from one of the eggs, discarding the white or using for another purpose.
- Add yolk and other eggs, and brown sugar to a bowl and mix until smooth.
- Add the sugar/egg mixture to the puree and mix well together.
- Pull out middle oven rack halfway, and place crust on rack. Pour the custard mixture into the pan, and carefully slide the rack back into oven.
- If using pomegranate, after 25 minutes of baking, sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the top of the pie.
- Bake 40 minutes, or until the sides of the pie are firm but the middle is still jiggly.
- Remove pie from oven and let cool at least 2 hours.
Have you made this recipe?Mention @fermentersclub or tag #fermentersclub!
Inspired by Alton Brown’s pie wisdom.
