Makeshift Pumpkin Pie

A few weeks ago I posted how to make homemade pumpkin puree. The good stuff that you can use in the endless list of pumpkin recipes you’ve been stock piling on Pintrest. I had, have and will have a Pintrest problem, as in far too many of those emoticons, that make fun of women logging in hours of their free time on Pintrest, pertain to me. Oy. BUT up until a couple weeks ago I couldn’t access blogs, Facebook or any other normal time sucker because the Chinese Government has strict censorship laws. So I had to adapt and got my ideas from photos..if I was desperate I’d have my friend Alex share her screen on skype so I could get recipes and such. WOOoooooOo anywho… 

So with the pumpkin puree we made last time I created a never ending list of things Pumpkin that I wanted to eat and make. So the first thing on the list….Pumpkin Pie.  And since I live in China, it’s called “Makeshift Pumpkin Pie”. Although, it wasn’t toooo make shift. They actually sold sweetened condensed milk at the local store! WOOT! My American friend, K, was over to help! She’s my favorite baking buddy. Our other favorite friends include a few girls named Cabernet, Merlot and Sauvignon …what can we say? The two of us belong in a French Bakery…in France…soon. 🙂

So first, the crust. I don’t have special tools-just hands and a toaster oven. So I couldn’t do the cold butter, pastry cutter, blah blah blah.  So I found this recipe while in Korea..where I was even more limited. I had to play with the ingredients a bit so this is what I used,

You’ll need:
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Cookie Crumbs
2 Teaspoons of Sugar
1/2 Cup Veggie Oil (splash more if too dry)
2 Tablespoons of milk (I use soy milk)

First you’ll need a big bowl. Then smash up some cheap Chinese brand cookies, from the corner store, in a ziplock bag and then dump in. It’ll give the pie a nice taste and texture.

In a bowl mix the flour, cookie crumbs and sugar. Then add the milk and oil (I used olive oil, but anything works). I mixed with my hands, but if you don’t like mess just use a fork. 🙂 Then press it into a pie tin (we found tin foil ones at Carrefour), or whatever baking dish you have. I’ve used my glass tupperwear that is ever so popular here. Once it’s in the dish stick it in the oven for about 10 minutes-or until cooked.

Next, the pumpkin pie filling, it’s super simple because my poor kitchen can’t handle much more than that.

All you need is:
2 cups of pumpkin puree (1 can)
2 eggs
1 can of SWEETENED condensed milk
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice (OR… Nutmeg, Clove, Cinnamon, Ginger. Most of which you can find in Asia.)
(I added extra cinnamon because I can and I will)
And as always…a glass of wine…or 2

Stir everything up together in a large bowl, and pour into the pie crust. It’s that easy!

Since we had such small tins, K and I made 2 small pumpkin pies. K demonstrates much better self control than I do…because L and I ate all of the pie for breakfast the next morning. No joke. I have an English garbage disposal and an American pumpkin craving…The pie’s fate was doomed upon leaving the oven. But hey..at least we waited until the next morning?

The finished photo isn’t so pretty…we tried to cover the 2nd pie with tin foil for the first 20 minutes but it just made the top look like it fell on the floor.

So there you have it. A very easy Makeshift Pumpkin Pie!

Pie Crust

1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Cookie Crumbs
2 Teaspoons of Sugar
1/2 Cup Veggie Oil (splash more if too dry)
2 Tablespoons of milk (I use soy milk)

Pumpkin Pie Filling

2 cups of pumpkin puree (1 can)
2 eggs
1 can of SWEETENED condensed milk
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice

Have you been making anything recently?

Hope you have a spectacular day,

Rosalie