Honey Pumpkin Pie with Vanilla Bean Meringue

While i was away in hawaii, we visited numerous supermarkets as all the food is so different and exciting!! I took pack a tin of pumpkin puree as Iv seen pumpkin pie almost everywhere on american websites and wanted to give it a go!! It is quite scrummy and I'm sure you could find the pumpkin puree at any american food store, such as Martha's Backyard. 

Honey Pumpkin Pie with Vanilla Bean Meringue 

Pastry: 

210g flour

135g butter, chilled and cubed

pinch salt

70 mL cold water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 egg beaten

Filling:

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

120g brown sugar

125 mL runny honey 

350 mL cream

415g pumpkin puree

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 

Meringue:

125g castor sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the pastry, place flour, butter and salt into a food processor and pulse until it resembles course breadcrumbs. Add the water and lemon juice and pulse a few times until the dough comes together. Tip out onto the bench, push together into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about an hour. 

Pre-heat oven to 170c. Grease and flour a 26 cm pie tin. 

Once it has chilled, take the pastry out and roll out on a lightly floured bench until about 3 mm thick. Lift over the pie tin and press it in. Trim off any excess pastry and flute the edges using your fingers. * PLace a sheet of baking paper inside the pastry shell and fill with baking weights. 

Place back into the fridge for a further 15 minutes before baking in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes. Take out, brush over the beaten egg and return to the oven for a further 4 minutes. 

Turn oven up to 180c . 

For the filling, beat the eggs, egg yolk and sugar together. Add all the other ingredients one at a time until they are all combined. Pour into the pastry shell, making sure not to over fill it (you will have some mixture left over). Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until set and the middle ever so slightly wobbles. Leave in the tin to cool completely. 

To make the meringue, Briefly whisk the egg whites and sugar together to combine them. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and add the thermometer. Stir every now and then (I stir with my thermometer probe). After about 3 minutes, when it's about 40C/105F, it should feel smooth with no gritty bits if you rub a bit of the mixture between your fingers. Either use it now or keep heating until it reaches your desired temperature. It took me 7 minutes in total to get to 70C/160F when I made the batch in the pictures. Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer (or use an electric hand whisk) and start whipping on medium-high (I use 8/10 on my mixer). Keep going until the base of the bowl is room temperature to the touch and you have stiff, shiny peaks. Spoon over the cooled pie in the center and spread out leaving some space between the edges of the pie so you can still see some filling, making peaks in the meringue. Toast meringue with a blow torch until the peaks are golden. Serve. 

*Look at this video on how to flute the edges of your pastry.