Autumn dessert | Pumpkin pie

After the summer months, barbecues and meals on the terrace, autumn heralds a return to the kitchen. This is the perfect time to prepare colorful, comforting and… sweet dishes. Each week, a pastry chef gives us the recipe for his favorite dessert of the moment. Discover the squash tart by Stéphanie Bériault, pastry chef at Maison Oddo.

Karyne Duplessis Piché
Special collaboration

There are tons of pumpkin or squash pie recipes out there. It is often the mixture of spices that differentiates them. “It’s hard to find the right mix of spices, explains Stéphanie Bériault, pastry chef at Maison Oddo in Gatineau. The secret of my recipe is the ginger caramel. ”

Caramel is used in two ways in the recipe of M^me Bériault: it covers the squash filling and adds a decorative touch. The pastry chef admits it without embarrassment: her recipe gives more caramel than is needed for her dessert. And this is very well so ! You can pour the excess into a mason jar or into several small ones to offer it as a gift. Ginger caramel can be spread on bread or eaten over ice cream.

The recipe allows you to make two pies. To save time, M^me Bériault suggests freezing one of the two after cooking. Once thawed, simply coat it with the caramel filling and prepare the cream for assembly.

“We’re starting to entertain again and we want to serve more than a chocolate cake, even if it’s very good,” she says. We go all out in the kitchen. “

Without a doubt, his pie will spark wonder around the table. And because butternut squash is sold in grocery stores year round, unlike pumpkin, its dessert will provide comfort for months to come.

Visit the Maison Oddo page

Ginger Caramel Squash Pie

Yield: two 8 ” pies

Ingredients for the cheese cream

• 400 g cream cheese
• 160 g of sugar
• 800 g of 35% cream
• 1 vanilla pod

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry

• 285 g butter, at room temperature
• 5 g of fine salt
• 200 g icing sugar, sifted
• 80 g ground almonds
• 110 g of eggs
• 140g all-purpose flour, sifted (part 1)
• 50 g of cornstarch
• 335 g all-purpose flour, sifted (part 2)

Ingredients for the squash mixture

• 1 butternut squash, halved and cored
• 100 g of eggs
• 150 g of 35% cream
• 150 g brown sugar
• 1 g of ground nutmeg
• 1 g of ground ginger
• 80 g flour

Ingredients for the ginger caramel

• 340 g sugar
• 85g glucose or light corn syrup
• 430 g of 35% cream
• Zest of a lemon
• 1 vanilla pod, scraped
• 85 g cold butter, cut into pieces
• 2 g of salt
• 25 g of fresh ginger, grated as finely as possible

Ingredients for roasted pumpkin seeds

• 100g raw pumpkin seeds, toasted in 375 ° F oven for 5 minutes

Preparation for the cheese cream

• 1. In a saucepan, heat the cream and the scraped vanilla bean together until boiling.
• 2. Cover with plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
• 3. Filter through a sieve and pour over the cream cheese and sugar.
• 4. Mix all the ingredients using a mixer foot.
• 5. Keep cold overnight.

Preparation for shortcrust pastry

• 1. In a stand mixer, use the foil to combine the butter, salt, icing sugar, ground almonds, eggs and the first part of the flour (140 g). Be careful not to over mix.
• 2. When everything is smooth, add the second part of flour (335 g) and the cornstarch. Do not over mix.
• 3. Reserve in the refrigerator a few hours before rolling out the dough thinly, to 4 mm thickness with a rolling pin, then cut two pastry and put in two 8 ”molds. Put back in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Preparation for butternut squash puree

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350 ° F.
• 2. Place the two pieces of squash flat, flesh-side down, on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
• 3. Bake for 45 minutes or until the blade of a small knife digs in without resistance.
• 4. Let cool, then remove the skin.
• 5. Pass in a blender until the puree is smooth.
• 6. Reserve 670 g of mash.

Preparation for the squash filling

• 1. Preheat the oven to 310 ° F.
• 2. Using a mixer foot, mix the eggs and cream.
• 3. In a stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients with a flat mixer.
• 4. Add the squash puree in two or three parts, to avoid lumps.
• 5. Finish by adding the mixture of eggs and cream without mixing too much.
• 6. Line the two pies two-thirds of the way up the pan.
• 7. Place in the center of the oven and cook for 35 minutes, turning them halfway through cooking.
• 8. Leave to cool.

Preparation for the ginger caramel

• 1. In a saucepan, bring the cream, lemon zest and vanilla to a boil.
• 2. Remove from heat and cover with plastic wrap to facilitate brewing for 30 minutes.
• 3. Pass the cream mixture through a sieve, then set aside.
• 4. In another saucepan, cook the sugar and glucose (or corn syrup) to 379 ° F (193 ° C on a candy thermometer).
• 5. When the caramel has reached the exact temperature, turn off the heat and pour the cream slowly, stirring with a rubber spatula (rubber spatula). This step is delicate, beware of burns and steam.
• 6. Add the butter and salt, then cook the mixture again to 239 ° F (or 115 ° C on a candy thermometer).
• 7. Add the grated ginger, and mix well using a blender.
• 8. Pour into a Pyrex-type glass dish and set aside in the refrigerator until assembly.

For mounting

• 1. Garnish the baked pie with the ginger caramel.
• 2. Sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel and toasted pumpkin seeds.
• 3. In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer with the whisk, beat the cream cheese until a stiff peak is obtained.
• 4. Put the cream in a pastry bag and apply on the caramel.
• 5. Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds, a little caramel and sprinkle lightly with a five-spice blend.