When Judy Hesser (mom of Amanda)
told me that her favorite pumpkin pie recipe, from Meta
Given’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking,
involves cooking down canned pumpkin to caramelize it, that alone was enough to sell me. It sounded like a pie with guts, that wouldn’t phone in the pumpkin flavor and bury it under lots of spice. But the genius of the recipe is much more than that.
involves cooking down canned pumpkin to caramelize it, that alone was enough to sell me. It sounded like a pie with guts, that wouldn’t phone in the pumpkin flavor and bury it under lots of spice. But the genius of the recipe is much more than that.
You don’t have to blind bake the crust
(that is, bake it before filling and, usually, baking again). You use fresh milk
and cream instead of evaporated milk, with predictably richer results. And
because you blast it at 400°F (200°C) the whole time, it bakes in 25
minutes—less than half the time of your average back-of-the-can recipe. (If
you’re wondering how a custard pie can sustain such abuse, I credit the cream
and the chilled pie shell.)
Caramelizing the pumpkin doesn’t make it stick to
the dry saucepan like you may be worrying it will; it’s moist enough that it
basically keeps deglazing itself. And the caramelizing does everything you’d
hope for the flavor: intensely, proudly pumpkin.
Rich as it is, you may only want a small slice,
and you might not even need the whipped cream, but make sure you have a bowlful,
just to be
safe. And—oh well!—that just means more left to eat cold for breakfast the
next day.
Serves 6
1¾ cups (425g) canned or fresh
cooked pumpkin puree
¾ cup (150g) sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground
cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground
ginger
2 large eggs
1 cup (240ml) heavy
cream
½ cup (120ml) milk
Unbaked, unpricked, chilled
9-inch (23cm) pie shell (store-bought or homemade)
1 Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2 Turn the pumpkin into a saucepan and stir frequently
over moderate, direct heat for 10 minutes until somewhat dry and slightly
caramelized. Remove from the heat but keep hot.
3 Mix thoroughly together the sugar, salt, cinnamon,
and ginger, and stir into the hot pumpkin. Beat the eggs, add the cream and
milk, and beat into the pumpkin mixture until smooth.
4 Pour immediately into the unpricked pastry-lined pie
pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and only a
1-inch (2.5cm) circle in the center of the filling remains liquid. Cool
thoroughly on a wire rack before cutting.
NOTE: Perfectly baked pumpkin pie has no cracks on its
surface. Baking hot filling in a chilled crust at 400°F (200°C) for 25 to 30
minutes produces a smooth, shiny, good-textured custard and a well-baked crust
free from soaking. But if your pie dish is thicker glass or ceramic instead of
metal, or you loathe underdone bottom crust, you might still want to blind bake
it a little. Here’s what I’d recommend: Blind bake at 350°F (175°C) with the
pastry shell lined with parchment paper and filled with baking beans or weights
until the sides are dry and firm, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the
parchment and weights, then bake until completely dry and firm (including bottom
crust) and starting to turn golden, 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool thoroughly. Then
watch the pie closely as it bakes with the filling—it might be done early, since
the cold raw crust isn’t there to protect it. And if the edges of the filling
are starting to look wrinkled while the middle is very jiggly, turn the heat
down to 350°F (175°C).
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