Ahh. This brings back childhood memories. I don’t think my mum ever knew what rice malt syrup was, but you get the idea……

FILLING

3 eggs
½ cup rice malt syrup
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree (Tip, not from the carving pumpkins as they don’t taste so nice. Use a regular one instead)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tblsp fresh ginger, grated
¼ tsp each nutmeg and cloves, ground
Rind of 1 lemon
¾ cup cream (oh, did I say healthy??? I did find this recipe in some healthy living mag)
1-2 tblsp arrowroot (I used a lot more because I doubted it would have the holding power, and it still worked out well)
1 tsp salt (I used less)

CRUST

¼ cup butter, softened
2 cups almond or hazelnut meal (or mix both, or use LSA)
Pinches of salt

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Combine softened butter, nut meal and salt in a bowl and mix well. Work it a bit so it holds better as the oil will be released from the nuts. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of a 21 cm pie dish. Cook for 5-8 mins until it starts to turn golden
  2. Let the crust cool fully (use the fridge or freezer if necessary) Cream eggs and rice malt syrup, then blend in the rest of the ingredients. If it’s a bit too runny, add extra arrowroot. It should be a thin, custard-like consistency.
  3. Gently pour the filling into the crush and bake for 45-55 mins or until the centre of the pie sets (when it starts to crack away from the base a little that’s a good sign) Have patience here. This pie is much better when its properly cooked and looked like baked custard.
  4. Remove from the oven and cool completely, then place in fridge. Serve with cream or some other healthy cream version. Enjoy!