As it gets colder we look for rich flavours and there’s nothing better than a mulled cider! If you’ve never had a go at mulling it’s worth the effort and if you have some chai spice around – use that! You can mull any of our ciders or mead. You can spice your apple in a hot apple pie too! At the Darkes Apple Shack we currently have this year’s first fresh-picked pumpkins from our favourite chemical-free potato and pumpkin farmer, Luke. To celebrate pumpkin season and for something a little different, bake a spiced pumpkin pie. They are popular in the United States and Canada. Here’s a recipe to have a crack at.

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

Use a 23 cm pie dish, line with baking paper 

Crust ingredients 

• 1 1/4 cups Plain flour 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 3 tablespoons margarine 
• 4 tablespoons cold butter (or substitute)  4 to 5 tablespoons ice water 

Filling ingredients 

• 2 tablespoons plain flour 
• 1/4 to 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon to taste; use the  larger amount if you’re a cinnamon lover Small pinch ground cloves 
• 1/8 teaspoon to 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger optional 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed 
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée (make beforehand by  baking the pumpkin and mashing it in a blender)  2 tablespoons maple syrup, honey or golden  syrup 
• 1 1/2 cups (340g) milk or a 12-ounce can  evaporated milk 
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Crust instructions 

Mix plain flour and salt. Add  margarine, work it in with your fingers or a mixer  until mixture is evenly crumbly. Add cold butter.  

Use your fingers to quickly squash it in, in thin  chunks. They don’t have to be mixed in properly.  Drizzle ice water, tossing the mixture as you add  water. When it comes together, stop. Mixing dough  too much or adding too much water toughens it. Squeeze it into a ball. Wrap dough in a beeswax  wrap, baking paper or other plastic alternative, and  refrigerate for about 30 minutes, before rolling it  out to make the pastry base in your pie dish.

Filling instructions

Mix flour, spices and salt in a  bowl. Add sugar and pumpkin, blend thoroughly.  Stir in syrup and milk. Allow the mixture to rest for  an hour at room temperature; or leave overnight in  the fridge. This develops the flavour and helps with  consistency of the filling. 

Add beaten eggs, whisk till combined. Pour  filling into prepared crust. Cover the edge of the  crust with a crust shield, or aluminum foil. 

Preheat oven to 230° C. Place pie on the bottom  rack, bake it for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to  180° C, move pie to the middle rack, then bake for  35 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted 2.5cm  from the edge comes out moist, but clean.

Remove  pie from oven, cool to room temperature (or chill)  before serving. Serve with whipped cream.