It’s a bit early to be filling the house with the aroma of Thanksgiving, however, if you are the menu planner or the cook of the family you know that now is the time to do some advanced organizing and prepping….
…it’s never too early to be thinking about pumpkin pie.
Traditions of Thanksgiving vary from family to family; however, most focus on giving thanks and expressing gratitude around a table that has been respectfully set with the traditional fare.
One of our customs is sweet and spicy Pumpkin Pie.
…It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it.
One Thanksgiving, many years ago, we made the decision to venture out in the camper trailer to squeeze in just one more weekend of outdoor living before the cold northern Ontario winter set in.
Who goes camping in northern Ontario in October??!!
We loaded the car with all the necessary supplies, as well as the three young children, and Tess, our German Shepherd .…off to a deserted campground just an hour or two away from home. Working up a hearty appetite as we played in the cool crisp air … crunching dried leaves underfoot as we walked the vacant trails … As the anticipated dinnerhour approached, the aroma of roasted turkey, with hints of sage and onion, greeted us at the trailer’s screen door. Our plates full, we huddled together at the small table and savoured the tastes of the season. And, after each of us had shared our gratitude for life’s gifts, we indulged in pumpkin pie with whipped cream…
…It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it.
Tips for making a great Pumpkin Pie:
- The crust is just as important as the creamy spicy filling, so attention must be paid to the details of a flaky, tender, and flavourful crust. Over the years I have gradually moved away from the all-shortening crust that my mother used … to one in which there was half-and-half shortening and butter … and, finally, to the one I now use …all butter. Butter means flavour.
- Since the butter needs to be very cold to encourage a flaky and tender dough to emerge, a good idea is to place the butter chunks in the freezer for a few minutes before incorporating them into the flour mixture.
- Pie dough needs two rest periods for gluten relaxation – one after it has been rolled (so that the relaxed gluten will allow the dough to be more easily rolled out) and one after it has been rolled and shaped into the pie pan (so that the relaxed gluten will keep the baked crust from shrinking too much).
- Pie dough needs to be blind baked – this means that it needs to get a head start on the baking process. After the dough has been rolled, and shaped in the pan, and after it has had time to rest, line the pan with some foil or parchment paper. Fill with pie weights (or use dried beans).
- Bake at 3750F (1900C) for 15 minutes; remove pie shell from oven and carefully remove parchment/foil and pie weights. Continue to blind bake for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the crust is starting to show a golden hue. Set crust aside to cool while you make the filling.
- Ensure that you are using pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The latter already has sugar and spices mixed in – you want to be in control of what you put in your pie, so buy the pure pumpkin. Or, better yet… get your own pumpkin from a local pumpkin patch.
… and then make your own puree by roasting and pureeing the entire pumpkin (seeds and strings removed) – and this means that the rind has been pureed as well…excellent flavour and texture when you can do this.
- Pumpkin pie is best enjoyed the day after it has been baked. It needs a sleep-over in the fridge for flavours to fully develop. If, for some odd reason, the whole pie is not consumed within a day or two of baking, freezing it is an option. Freezing this type of pie is not often advised because the de-frosting process can leave the crust soggy, and the filling watery. So, in a pinch, if you decide that you must freeze some leftover pie, use Mom Helena’s defrosting strategy: Preheat oven to 4000F . Take the frozen pie directly from the freezer and place (uncovered) in the hot oven. Bake for 15 minutes. This allows the crust to stay crisp, and the filling to defrost without becoming watery.
Pumpkin Pie
Prep Time: 30 minutes Baking Time: 20 minutes (blind bake) 60 minutes for filled crust
Yield: 1 – 9 inch pie
Crust for a Single Crust Pie:
190 g (1 ¼ cups) all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL) salt
2 tablespoons (30 mL) sugar
115 g (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into small chunks
1 large egg, cold
2 teaspoons (10 mL) vinegar
Ice water
Pumpkin Filling:
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature (reserve egg white for decorating)
185 mL (3/4 cup / 160 g) packed dark brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons (7 mL) cinnamon
½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) ground ginger
¼ teaspoon (1.5 mL) ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) Chinese 5-spice, or allspice
pinch of cloves
½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) salt
2 teaspoons (10 mL) pure vanilla extract
1 can (398 mL / 15 oz) pure pumpkin puree (about 1 ½ cups)
300 mL (1 ¼ cup) heavy cream, at room temperature
Method:
1. Make the dough for the crust: With a food processor fitted with a metal blade (or with a pastry blender), mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Gradually incorporate the icy cold butter chunks until the mixture resembles pea-size chunks.
2. In a measuring cup, whisk the cold egg; add the vinegar and just enough ice cold water to make 1/3 cup (85 mL).
3. Gradually add the egg-vinegar mixture to the flour mixture and mix just until it comes together – until it starts to look like bread crumbs. Don’t over-process.
4. Turn out mixture onto a large piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Gently, and minimally, form a ball of dough. You should see beautiful bits of butter throughout. Flatten the ball into a disk shape – about 5-6 inches in diameter. This will assist in rolling out the dough later on.
5. Wrap dough disk in the wax paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least ½ hour, or overnight. Dough can also be frozen for later use.
6. At Baking Time: Roll out the rested dough, and fit it into a pie plate. You have some options at this point – You can crimp or flute the dough along the circumference of the pie plate; or you can trim the edges and preserve the trimming to make some decorative edges (see below) after it has been blind baked.
7. Prick the dough in a few places; prepare it for blind baking, and let the dough rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 3750F (1900C). Blind bake crust (see Tips above) for 15-20 minutes while you prepare the pumpkin filling.
9. Prepare Filling: In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, brown sugar, spices, salt, and vanilla. Add the pumpkin puree and thoroughly combine. Stir in the heavy cream.
10. Lower oven temperature to 3250F (165 degrees C).
11. Make decorative edges: Roll out reserved dough and make ½ inch circles – you will need about 40-45 of them.
Brush the edge of the blind baked crust with the egg white. Overlap the dough circles around the edge of the pie crust, pressing them gently to adhere to the crust.
Brush the edges with egg white and sprinkle with some sanding sugar.
12. Carefully pour the filling into the prepared crust.
13. Bake for 60 minutes at 3250F ( or until an inserted knife comes out clean). If the crust edges seem to be getting too dark, carefully place some foil over the edges to prevent over-browning.
14. Let pie cool completely before serving – ideally overnight. Baked pumpkin pie keeps very well in the refrigerator for two days.