The day of Halloween itself has passed with seemingly little fanfare at Fairfield University. The steady stream of festivities held over the weekend came to a harsh conclusion with a movie in the Lower Level of the Barone Campus Center on Monday night and nothing hosted on Oct. 31 itself. This was an oversight on the University’s part, but now the holiday is over and the next question is: what do we do with all these pumpkins?

There were no less than three and likely many more, on-campus events that featured the painting and/or carving of pumpkins this holiday. These pumpkins served us well. They decorated our dorms and provided us with either a means of procrastination or a stress-free activity during midterms. Now we need to get rid of them before they rot. The boring method is to just throw them away with other fruits and vegetables we purchase with the intention of eating, only to forget about them until they go bad as we gorge ourselves on pizza and Chipotle. The second option students have is to use these pumpkins to their fullest extent and make a dorm-made Pumpkin Pie for a snack while procrastinating during this final week of midterms.

Below is the recipe for a pie crust and a fresh dorm-made Pumpkin Pie. Enjoy!

The Crust:

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 ¼ stick unsalted butter

  1.  Thoroughly combine flour and sugar in a large bowl.
  2.  Melt the butter in 30 second bursts, stirring after each burst, until melted evenly throughout. Pour into the flour and sugar mixture.
  3.  Combine — this will be easiest to do with your hands — until the ingredients are mixed evenly and the dough gathers easily into a ball. TIP: If the dough is still too crumbly, add a tablespoon of COLD water and knead it into the dough well. DO NOT add more than three tablespoons of water.
  4.  Form the dough into a four-inch disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for two hours before using.

The Puree:

  1.    Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2.    Take your pumpkin, slice it in half and use a spoon to scrape out the majority of the seeds and the pulp.
  3.    Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet and roast it in the oven for 45 minutes until the pumpkin is tender and slightly golden brown.
  4.    Peel off the pumpkin’s skin until you have a pile of the pumpkin “meat.” Then, either use a blender or a fork/potato masher to mash the “meat” together until it looks smooth. TIP: if the puree looks too dry, add a tablespoon of water and mash again.

The Pie:

Ingredients:

3 large eggs                    1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar            2 cups fresh pumpkin puree

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream        1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon        1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg                1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground allspice            1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  1.      Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2.      Roll out the pie crust until it is two inches larger than your pie dish. Press the dough down into the dish so it lines the bottom and sides, then trim the dough so it only extends half an inch past the edge of the dish. Fold this over so that it creates a thicker border around the edge of the pie dish.
  3.      Mix the eggs and sugars together until smooth. Add the pumpkin puree, cream, vanilla and spices, then blend together until smooth.
  4.      Pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 35-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted two inches from the edge of the pie comes out clean. TIP: If, while the pie is baking, the crust starts to get too dark — cover JUST THE CRUST with a thin strip of aluminum foil.
  5.      Let the pie cool on a wire rack for two hours (while the pie is cooling, it will continue to cook and the center will gradually become firmer — the center is supposed to look “wet” when you take the pie from the oven).

About The Author

-- Executive Editor Emeritus -- English Literature & Film, Television, and Media Arts

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