COOK TIME 60 mins
TOTAL TIME 60 mins
SERVINGS 8 servings
This is absolutely the BEST homemade pumpkin pie recipe! Make it with canned or fresh pumpkin puree and up to several days ahead. Also freezes well! Thanksgiving pie never looked so good or so easy.
Pumpkin Pie
The single most requested dessert at our Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie. (The second being apple pie.)
In fact, pumpkin pie is so synonymous with the holidays that during this time you can find “pumpkin spiced” everything, from lattes to donuts.
To make pumpkin purée from scratch, cut a medium-small sugar pumpkin in half. Scrape out the insides (reserving the pumpkins seeds to roast) and discard. Line a baking sheet with Silpat or foil. Place the pumpkin halves cut side down on the lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F until a fork can easily pierce them, about an hour to an hour and a half. Remove from oven, let cool, scoop out the pulp.
Alternatively, you can cut the pumpkin into sections and steam in a saucepan with a couple inches of water at the bottom, until soft (strain before using). If you want the purée to be extra smooth, press the pulp through a food mill or chinois.
Note, this recipe makes a generous amount of filling, enough for one homemade crust or two store-bought frozen crusts.
Ingredients
· 2 large eggs plus the yolk of a third egg
· 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
· 1/3 cup white sugar
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· Pumpkin Pie spice mi
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
· 2 cups pumpkin pulp purée from a sugar pumpkin (see Recipe Note) OR 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin purée (can also use puréed cooked butternut squash)
· 1 1/2 cups heavy cream or one 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
· 1 good pie crust, chilled or frozen here in Luxembourg we use pate brisée available from most usual supermarkets
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 425°F
2. Make the filling
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Mix in the brown sugar, white sugar, salt, spices—cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves, cardamom, and lemon zest.
Mix in the pumpkin purée. Stir in the cream. Beat together until everything is well mixed.
3. Pour into pie shell and bake
Pour the filling into an uncooked chilled or frozen pie shell. Bake at a high temperature of 425°F for 15 minutes.
Then after 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 350°F. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes more. The pie is done when a knife tip inserted in the center comes out wet but relatively clean. The center should be just barely jiggly.
(About half-way through the baking, you may want to put foil around the edges or use a pie protector to keep the crust from getting too browned.)
