On today’s Farm-to-Table, we’re sharing our recipe for a time-tested favorite: pumpkin pie. Whether you make a pie every year for family gatherings or if you just happen to have an extra sugar pumpkin lying around, pumpkin pie is a great way to celebrate the fall season.
I’ve been making butter crust pie for a long time, so the crust recipe below is pretty much a standard one that I’ve grown to like. The pumpkin pie filling recipe is taken from the book “Pie for Everyone” with a few small modifications. The maple bourbon whipped cream is just a playful kitchen experiment, though I’m sure you can find plenty of recipes online!
DIY Butter Crust
Almost all pumpkin pie recipes that I’ve seen require a par-baked crust. I won’t tread too far into the butter or lard crust debate other than to say that I prefer an all butter crust for its flavor. If you work fast enough and use a few tricks, you can still achieve a very flaky crust. The dough below has a slightly higher salt content – I like to offset the sweetness of pumpkin pie with a bit of extra salt, but feel free to adjust the saltiness of your pie dough to suit your filling.
Ingredients for a single-crust 9 1/2″ pie:
1 1/4 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, frozen
2-4 tbsp ice water
Method:
A few hours prior to making your pie, mix together the flour and salt into a Ziploc bag or Tupperware container and place it in the freezer. Do the same with a box grater and a bowl. The goal is to make all of your tools and ingredients as cold as possible.
After prepping all of your ingredients, empty the flour and salt mixture into your frozen bowl. Using the box grater, grate the frozen butter into the mix, working as quickly as possible to not allow the butter to melt onto your grater.
Once grated, mix the butter into the flour using a fork. Add two tablespoons of ice water, then mix. Add as little water as possible to the dough – just enough to get it to stick together. Use the fork for as much of this as you can – your hands will only add heat to the dough, melting the butter and making the pastry less flaky.
Once together, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
When you’re ready to roll out your dough, remove it from the wrapping and place it on a well-floured work surface. The key here is to again work quickly to prevent the dough from warming up. Roll out the dough to a size about 1″ larger than your pie plate. Transfer it to the pie dish and make sure to let the dough settle into the bottom edge – you’ll need to manipulate it slightly in order to do this.
Once the dough is placed, use your non-dominant hand to lift and pinch the edge of the crust. Use your dominant thumb to press into this pinch, creating a traditional crimped look to the pie. Try not to make your crimps too pointy, as they have a tendency to burn. Trim any excess as needed. Once your pie is crimped, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for another hour.
When you’re ready to par-bake the crust, preheat your oven to 375F. Once preheated, remove the pie from the fridge, line it with parchment and weight it with pie weights – dried beans work well if you don’t have special weights!
Place it directly into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven, take out the weights and the parchment, and prick the bottom of the pie with a fork. Return the crust to the oven for another 5 minutes. Once it’s done, remove and let cool on a rack while you finish up your pie filling.
Pumpkin Pie Filling
I started using this recipe for filling a couple of years ago and have never looked back. The difference between canned pumpkin pie filling and this recipe continues to delight me every time I make it – and it ultimately isn’t that much more work than filling from a can. It’s also a great way to use some produce from our favorite Hudson Valley farms!
Ingredients for a 9 1/2″ pie:
110 g of dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
2 cups sugar pumpkin
2 cups honeynut squash – you can use other varieties, but I like honeynut for its depth of flavor and natural sweetness. If using a less sweet squash, consider adding a bit of extra brown sugar
200ml heavy cream
200ml whole milk
3/4 tsp molasses
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
Method:
Combine the dark brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom in a bowl. Stir to mix together well, then set aside.
Halve the pumpkin and squash and set aside the seeds for roasting (or discard). Leaving the skin on, cut both into 1″ cubes.
Place the cubes in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, then cover with heavy cream and whole milk. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes, or until squashes have become soft.
Preheat your oven to 400F.
Add the molasses and the brown sugar spice mix. Stir to combine and cook for another minute before taking off the heat.
Using a food processor, blender, or immersion blender, puree the mixture until smooth. I prefer the immersion blender for quick an easy cleanup!
Once pureed, let the mixture cool for about fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and egg yolks in a separate bowl. Once cool, add a bit of egg to the puree at a time, whisking continuously to ensure that the egg doesn’t cook in the warm puree. Once fully combined, you’re ready to assemble with your parbaked crust.
Pour the mixture into the par-baked crust, allowing it to fill the dish as much as possible. Once your oven has preheated, bake the pie for 10 minutes. Turn down the oven temperature to 350F and bake for an additional 40 minutes. The edges of the pie should have risen, while the middle should still be slightly depressed. If you wiggle the pie, it should shake similar to Jell-O. Keep in mind that your pie will continue to cook once out of the oven and that it will continue to solidify as it cools – overbaking will lead to cracking as the pie cools!
Once out of the oven, sprinkle with a flaky sea salt to bring the salty-sweet tone to the finish. Let rest for 30 minutes, and then serve warm with fresh whipped cream.
Maple Bourbon Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp of your favorite bourbon
Method:
Whip heavy cream using a handheld beater, standing mixer or whisk until just shy of fully whipped. Add maple syrup and bourbon, then whisk to combine and finish whipping process. Serve immediately – if storing, re-whisk to combine if needed.
Above all, enjoy! Pumpkin pie should keep in the fridge for about 3-5 days. Make sure to let it cool completely before refrigerating.
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