Monday 31 August 2015

Author Spotlight - Sasha Cottman's Regency Pumpkin Pie

with guest blogger Sasha Cottman

We are very excited to welcome Regency Historical Author, Sasha Cottman to the blog this week. Sasha has written three books with Destiny publishing including: Letter from a Rake and An Unsuitable Match. Her latest book is called The Duke's Daughter and is available now. (Links at the end of the post.)

Today Sasha is sharing with us one of her Regency recipes. I am sure it's as delicious as it looks below.

Regency Pumpkin Pie

This recipe dates back to 1765, but was still very popular in the Regency period. Susannah Carter published it in her book ‘The Frugal Housewife’. It was later published in the United States in 1772 and reprinted in England in 1803. I have adapted parts of it for the modern kitchen. It makes a delicious dessert.

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked and mashed pumpkin

2 cups of milk

½ cup of Malaga wine (I actually opened a bottle of reserve Muscat, but don’t tell my husband).

7 eggs

1 cup of softened butter

1 tbsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp salt (I didn’t bother with this but it’s up to you)

1 cup sugar

2 X 9” single crust pie shells
You can make your own pie pastry, but these days you can simply buy the shells in the supermarket.  Make sure to get the sweet ones not the savoury.

Method

You can roast the pumpkin, but after having burnt some the first time, I cut the peeled pumpkin and simply boiled it. Drain the pumpkin and mash it.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and pour into the prepared pastry shells. (Do this carefully as you may have some mix left over and don’t want to overfill the shell).

Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Garnish with pecans and whipped cream.

Are you a baker or a faker? Share your cooking triumphs or fails with us in the comments.  

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Author Bio
Born in England, but raised in Australia, Sasha has a love for both countries. Having her heart in two places has created a love for travel, which at last count was to over 55 countries. A travel guide is always on her pile of new books to read.

Her first published novel, ‘Letter from a Rake’, was a finalist for the 2014 Romantic Book of the Year.

Sasha lives with her husband, teenage daughter and a cat who demands a starring role in the next book. She has found new hiding spots for her secret chocolate stash. On the weekends Sasha loves walking on the beach while trying to deal with her bad knee and current Fitbit obsession.

You can follow Sasha and find out more about her and her books on her:  WebsiteBlogTwitterFacebookGoodreads, and The Duke's Daughter Pinterest Page.

The Duke’s Daughter:

When handsome army officer Avery Fox unexpectedly inherits a fortune, he instantly becomes one of the season's most eligible bachelors. More accustomed to the battlefield, he has no patience with the naive debutantes who fill the ballrooms of London.

Honest and impetuous Lady Lucy Radley is a breath of fresh air, guiding him through the season and helping him to avoid any traps. So when Avery is left with little option but to marry Lucy, he can't help but feel he's been manipulated. Nor can he shake the feeling that a duke's daughter should be out of his reach.

From the wildly beautiful Scottish Highlands to the elegant soirees of Paris, Avery and Lucy go on a journey that is full of surprises for them both. But will their feelings for each other be strong enough to overcome the circumstances of their marriage and survive the ghosts of Avery's past?

The Duke’s Daughter is available as an e-book at the following e-retailers.

21 comments:

  1. The winner drawn out of my fancy glass last night was Cecilia Clark. Congratulations Cecilia. Could email me at enisa.haines@gmail.com with your details so I can post your prize.

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    1. Congratulations Cecilia! I'm sure you'll enjoy both the book and the choccies.

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  2. Congratulations, Cecilia!

    And thanks for this unusual recipe, Sasha. Unfortunately in the baking department I am more an eater than a baker. So definitely a faker...! Your book sounds so interesting. Can I ask about your journey to writing Regencies? Was that genre always going to be your first writing love?

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    1. Hi Malvina. I am the same, I am usually the first person to offer to make a casserole or bring the wine to a function. As for writing Regencies, I have always been a history buff and the only romance book I had read before I found the genre was Pride and Prejudice. It did help that the lecturer at the writing course I did was Anne Gracie and once I had read some of her books I knew I was hooked.

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    2. Oh, well with P&P and the divine Miss Gracie, you were home and hosed. Off and running! Do you have other favourite Regency authors you can recommend? I love Georgette Heyer, of course, and also authors such as Anna Campbell, Lisa Kleypas, Loretta Chase.

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  3. Hi Sasha.I know you still hold down your day job. How do you manage your work life balance and writing? Do you write at night or early in the morning?

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    1. Hi Cassie, I don't try and think about both jobs. But seriously, I am an accountant by trade so that means to do lists, spreadsheets and deadlines. I would love to be able to write in the morning, but I leave home at 6.30 and Melbourne in winter is not the warmest of places. I write in the evening. I put the stop watch on for an hour and shut out all noise with a earphones and a good piece of classical music on autorepeat.

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  4. I Sasha. The recipe sounds so delicious I'm going to have a go at it. In the baking (and entire cooking department, I might add) I have the funny habit of making dishes I've never made before whenever I have guests over. So guests get first taste!
    Re your writing, is it only the Regency period that interests you, or other periods of English history too?

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    1. Hi Enisa, being English I am interested in all periods of English history. I suppose I have become immersed in the world of the Regency and it was certainly with that era in mind that I spent a week last year in London on a research trip. It was a period of huge change throughout Europe. Part of my current WIP is also set on the continent.

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  5. Yumm! Your pumpkin pie recipe sounds scrumptious!

    I looooove baking almost as much as I loooooove eating! Growing up my Mom always had home-made cookies for my siblings and I to munch on after school--even though she worked full time and commuted to and from her day job. While I'm not as reliable as my mom, I do try to bake at least once a month for my family...Mom's recipes are the stuff legends are made of...I just hope I do them justice!

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    1. Hi Dee. Home made cookies...yum. What is it about home made food that tastes so much better than anything you can buy at the shop?

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    2. Love. That one additional but oh so tasty ingredient.

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  6. Hi Sasha! I can't wait to try this! I love simple recipes that don't take too much time to create and this fits the bill perfectly. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  7. Thanks Marilyn and thanks for having me on the blog. This is a terrific site, lots of great posts.

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  8. I thought I saw a familiar face in Hearts Talk today. Congratulations, Dee Scully. You must be over the moon at your Ripping Start award. Well done. Hopefully, we'll see your work in print soon. :)

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    1. Thank you Georgia Carter Mathers!! LOL--that pic in HeartsTalk is my cat ate the canary look...I am still sure someone is going to figure out that I didn't actually win and take my certificate.

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    2. Well deserved Dee, congratulations.

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  9. I couldn't pop by yesterday, but it's great that you've had a triple taste of historical... Well, there's Sasha's wonderful recipe, her Regencies, and Dee's good news - up-to-date news, but historical, none-the-less.

    Sasha isn't RWA's first accountant turned author. That spot belongs to Trish Morey.

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    1. Hi Robyn! I think there are a few of us bean counters in the group. Trish will do a fantastic job of the Adelaide conference, we accountants are an organised bunch.

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