Classic pumpkin pie recipe with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and black pepper infused in the creamy custard. This festive holiday treat is baked in a delicious flaky crust!
ingredient
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into ¼-inch cubes
- ½ cup vegetable shortening, ice cold
- ¼ cup vodka, cold
- ¼ cup water, cold
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree, canned or homemade (see notes below)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground, to take
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 large egg, beaten plus 1 teaspoon milk for brushing
Directions
- In a large bowl add flour, salt, and sugar, mix to combine.
- Add the cold cut pieces of butter and shortening to the flour, toss to coat. Use your fingers or pastry cutter to cut in the shortening and butter into pea-sized pieces into the flour mixture.
- Sprinkle vodka over dough mixture. With a rubber spatula using folding motions to mix, pressing down on dough until slightly tacky and sticks together. If the mixture feels dry, sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of water in at a time, and fold until it forms a dough (up to ¼ cup water).
- Divide the dough into two balls, one double the size of the other (bottom crust) and the smaller for decorations.
- Place dough balls on two separate plastic pieces and flatten into 4-inch disks. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes until chilled, or up to 2 days.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the larger dough ball to a 12-inch round, or about ¼-inch thick. Ease the dough into a deep 9-inch pie plate.
- Trim the overhanging dough to 1-inch and fold it under itself. Decorate the edges as desired and chill the crust until firm, about 30 minutes.
- You can use the other smaller dough ball to create decorations for the top of the pie. Brush those pieces with beaten egg and milk mixture, and bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F (191ºC).
- Remove crust from the refrigerator and brush edges with beaten egg and milk mixture. Using pie weights, pre-bake crust for 10 minutes. Once done remove and transfer to a cooling rack. In the meanwhile make the pumpkin filling.
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, three eggs, and brown sugar.
- Add the cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, heavy cream, and milk. Whisk vigorously until everything is combined; the filling will be slightly thick.
- Pour filling into pre-baked crust. Fill about halfway about 3 ½ to 4 cups of filling.
- Bake the pie for 20 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil or a pie shield to prevent the edges from getting too brown.
- Return the pie to the oven and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until the center is almost set, and may still move slightly. When a knife inserted near the center comes out clean the pie is ready.
- Transfer pie to a wire rack and cool for 3 hours. Serve immediately with decorations and whipped cream if desired. Pie can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Related Recipes
