THE BEST PUMPKIN PIE
What makes this the best is paying attention to all three components of the dessert: the pumpkin custard-based filling, a flaky and flavorful crust and a freshly whipped topping.
The Best Pumpkin Pie
Serves about 10
Don’t let the few extra steps intimidate you- they are worth it! You can make your pie dough a few days ahead of time and prepare the whipped topping earlier in the day.
Ingredients:
1 Flaky Pie Crust, fitted into a 9-inch pie dish (see recipe below) or use a store bought crust
4 large eggs
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, 100% pumpkin (not “pumpkin pie mix”)
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 scant teaspoon cayenne pepper (this is optional but it gives just the tiniest “kick” to the pie)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
Whipped Cream (see recipe below)
Directions
Prebake pie crust (see recipe below or use you own or store-bought)
While crust is cooling, preheat oven to 400 degrees and begin to prepare the filling.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine. Next, mix in the maple syrup and molasses, followed by the sour cream, spices, salt, vanilla extract and finally the heavy cream, mixing with a whisk until thoroughly combined.
Pour mixture into baked pie shell crust and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes, until center is almost set and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. If the crust edges are browning too quickly, fit a ring of foil around the rim of crust.
Let pie cool completely on a rack before serving.
Serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.
Optional tip: If you’re feeling extra fancy, add some decorative pie crust cutouts, like the ones in the photo above. To do this, make an extra one-half recipe of pie crust dough. Roll out one-half recipe disk into 1/8-inch thickness and cut out your favorite shapes using small cookie cutters or freestyle with a knife. Place cutouts on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with just a touch of sugar. Bake for about 7-12 minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely and then decorate as you wish onto pie.
Pastry Dough for a 1-Crust Pie
Be sure to keep your butter and shortening very cold from the refrigerator. It’s the secret to a flaky crust!
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into roughly 1/2-inch cubes
3-4 Tablespoons ice water
1 egg and 1 Tablespoon water (for the egg wash)
Directions
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt.
Add cold butter and shortening cubes to flour mixture and pinch cubes with your fingertips until mixture forms clumps about the size of tiny peas (clumps will be uneven.)
Quickly sprinkle ice water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, over all of the flour mixture, tossing lightly with a spoon until you can form the dough into a ball. (Don’t overwork dough.)
Flatten the ball into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest refrigerated for at least 30 minutes. (Dough can rest in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.)
When ready to use, preheat oven to 350 degrees and remove pie disk from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes just to soften a bit.
Dust surface and rolling pin lightly with flour and roll disk into an 12-inch circle of about 1/8th thickness. Close up any cracks by pinching them together and smoothing out gently with the rolling pin.
Gently fit dough into the bottom of a pie plate and crimp edges with your fingers. Cover up any holes or cracks at this time. (A little water can be used to help with cracks just by dipping your finger in wet and gently pinching the dough back together.)
To prebake pieshell, line the shell with a piece of parchment paper or foil, then fill the pie shell with a layer of dried beans or other pie weights (pennies can also be used.) This keeps the center crust from rising unevenly.
Bake in oven for about 15 minutes or just until crust starts to brown.
While crust is baking, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg and 1 Tablespoon of water to make an egg wash.
Remove crust from oven, take pie weight out and brush the egg wash mixture all over crust (this will seal the crust, preventing wet filling from making your pie soggy.)
Bake for another 8-10 minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.
Whipped Cream
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanila extract
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (use more or less to your taste)
Directions
Chill a deep mixing bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
Add heavy cream, vanilla extract and sugar to chilled bowl and briskly whisk by hand for about 3 minutes, until soft peaks form (you’ll need to use some muscle for this!) You can also use an electric mixture for this, beating on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Whichever method you use, be careful not to overbeat as cream will turn to a clumpy consistency.
