Ladies and gentleman, we are in the middle of an epidemic! It's sweeping the nation...no, the GLOBE. It happens this time every year. Pumpkin. It's everywhere, in everything. There's no escaping it. And you know what? I don't want to.
Pumpkin muffins, truffles, ice cream, and lattes. I want it all! Oh, and pumpkin pie. My favorite of all pies. You haven't had pumpkin pie till you've made it from scratch. A smooth, velvety pumpkin custard encased in a tender, flaky crust. Oh lord, it doesn't get better than that. So what are you waiting for? It's time to get our pie on!
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| Nothing says autumn like a fresh baked pumpkin pie. |
In my opinion, the best part of a pie is the crust. Making it is simple and you'll come out with a great product every time if you follow the golden rule: keep all your ingredients cold! A perfect crust is tender and flaky. With only 4 ingredients, you have to make every step work towards this goal.
Freeze a portion of the butter and all the flour separately for at least 30 minutes. Keep the other portion of butter refrigerated. The reason we are freezing most of our ingredients is because we do not want our butter to become fully incorporated in the dough when we begin mixing. When you roll out a dough that has small chunks of butter in it, you are creating long layers throughout. These layers produce pockets of steam as the crust is baking, giving us that flaky texture we love oh so much!
This recipe calls for pastry flour. I know it may be a little difficult to find it in a regular grocery store. Have no fear! You can make your own. Use a simple 2:1 ratio of all purpose flour and cake flour, respectively. Don't have cake flour? Just use all purpose. Of course, your curst won't be as flaky (there's that word again!) or tender (yikes!).
Place your flour and the refrigerated butter in a food processor and process until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. We are finely incorporating this butter into the flour to keep the flour from absorbing too much water later and forming gluten which will make the crust tough. Do not over process though! You then add the frozen butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Add your cider vinegar and only enough water so that when you pinch the mixture together, it starts to hold.
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| Butter left unincorporated serves to separate the layers in the dough, creating flakiness. |
Spoon the mixture into a plastic bag and begin kneading it until it forms a ball. Using a bag keeps us from having to incorporate more flour in the dough and is much easier for clean up.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate overnight. This relaxing period is essential to keep the dough from shrinking while baking.
The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit for a few minutes at room temperature. Meanwhile, place a layer of plastic wrap down on the counter (I used a silpat, but both will work) and lightly flour. Place the dough on the plastic wrap and put another layer of plastic over it. Begin gently beating the dough with a rolling pin until it forms into a slightly larger disc. This will keep the dough from cracking at the edges when you start rolling. Roll the dough into a 14-inch circle. Try to roll in only one direction (not back and forth), occasionally lifting the dough to make sure it isn't stuck to the plastic wrap and adding a bit more flour.
Use a template (I used a 13-inch pot lid) to cut the dough into a perfect 13-inch circle.
Fold the dough in half, then fold that half in half. Place this in a 9-inch pie pan and unfold carefully. Tuck any over-hanging dough under itself and crimp with your fingers.
Wrap the entire pie pan lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Roll up leftover dough and refrigerate for a little while, until cold again. Re-roll and cut out leaf shapes with a sharp knife. Place shapes on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Egg wash the leaves and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a preheated oven until golden brown.
After your crust has rested in the fridge, start your pie filling! Be sure to preheat your oven at least 20 minutes before placing the pie in it.
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| Canned puree should be used because it has good consistent quality versus the varying quality of homemade puree. |
Process the cookies and pecans together until finely ground. Don't over process or the oil in the pecans will be released and the mixture will clump. Line the bottom of the pie with the crumbs. This is used to absorb moisture after the pie is baked to keep the crust from becoming soggy.
Combine pumpkin puree, sugar, and spices in a medium sauce pan. Bring mixture up to a simmer, stirring constantly. Cook until shiny and thick, 3-5 minutes.
Place the pumpkin mixture in a clean food processor and mix for 1 minute. This processing makes the pie filling extra velvety and smooth. Begin adding the milk and heavy cream while the motor is running. Then add the eggs one at a time until just combined, scraping the container as necessary.
Pour the filling into the crust. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Make a foil ring and place on the edge of the pie to keep the crust from over browning and bake for 15-30 minutes longer until the filling is mostly set, with the center giggling slightly. Keep an eye on it. If the center becomes fully set, it's over baked.
Let your pie cool on a rack for at least 2 hours. Place your leaf decorations on top and enjoy!
