Pumpkin Shortcake Slice

For those of you with an ample supply of pumpkin after the autumn harvest, and feel like something a little different, check out this Pumpkin Shortcake recipe.

I’ve lots of delicious pumpkin recipes including these 10 Savoury Ways with Pumpkin, but I decided to put my hand to a sweet option. If you have heard of, or tasted Pumpkin Pie before, you’ll be familiar with the warm spices and firm custard-like filling. Imagine a similar filling but on a shortcake base…and you have it.

It’s particularly good as you can slice it up into squares if you are feeling an army. In an air-tight container in the fridge, it can keep for around 4 days – if you haven’t already demolished it by then!

This recipe calls for 500g of peeled pumpkin which equates to 2 cups of mashed pumpkin once cooked.

Pumpkin Shortcake Slice

Ingredients

Base

• 150g butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup flour

Filling

• 500g peeled pumpkin (or 2 cups plain mashed pumpkin)
• 1 cup soft brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup cream or sour cream
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175°C and line a rectangular baking tin with grease-proof paper.
2. To make the base, beat together butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and creamy. Sift in flour and mix until combined.
3. Press the base mix into the bottom of the baking tin evenly. The mix may be crumbly and/or sticky, so use clean fingers (or the back of a spoon) to push the mix into the corners and forming a thin base. If you wish to have a fine ‘crumb’ on top of the shortcake, reserve a few spoonfuls for later.
4. Bake the base for 15 minutes until lightly brown, then remove from oven and allow to cool.
5. To make the filling, boil (without salt) pumpkin until cooked, then drain. Mash the pumpkin (without salt or milk) until all lumps have been removed. Measure – this should equate to approx 2 cups of mashed pumpkin.
6. To the mashed pumpkin, add brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger and eggs. Blend well into a puree. Add cream (or sour cream if using) and blend again into a smooth batter.
7. Finally, sift baking powder and flour, and fold in well to the mixture.
8. Pour the pumpkin mix over the cooked base. Crumble leftover base mix (if you decided to opt for this) on top of the pumpkin.
9. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the golden brown and firm.
10. Cool before slicing.