Here’s a probiotic addition to a classic autumn/winter dessert recipe. It’s a from-scratch (i.e. homegrown squash!) 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.
Serve with kefir ice cream, or lavender-infused whipped cream
Kefir Pumpkin Pie
Prep time
Fermentation time
Ingredients
Crust
- 7 oz. (200g) graham crackers or gingersnap cookies
- 1.25 oz (35g) grass-fed butter
- ½ oz. (15g) fresh ginger root
- 1 Tbsp. (10g) dark brown sugar
Filling
- 16 oz. (450g) pumpkin or other winter squash, cooked and pureed
- ½ cup (115g) milk kefir
- ¾ cup (120g) dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (115g) heavy cream
- ¼ tsp. (1.25ml) sea salt
- ½ tsp. (2.5ml) fresh nutmeg
- 3 large chicken eggs (2 whole plus one yolk)
- [Optional] ¼ cup pomegranate arils (seeds)
Instructions
Blind Bake crust
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- 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 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. Ppour the custard mixture into the pan, and carefully slide the rack back into oven.
- Bake 40 minutes, or until the sides of the pie are firm but the middle is still jiggly.
- If using pomegranate, after 25 minutes of baking, sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the top of the pie.
- Remove pie from oven and let cool at least 2 hours.
Much obliged to Alton Brown for his pie wisdom.