Pumpkin Pie
The best pumpkin pie ever, by William & Sonoma.
For the pumpkin purée, I recommend baking a large amount of Butternut squash and then pureeing it. Baking it will get rid of a lot of the water, which is good for your pie.
Ingredients
Pastry dough
- 190 g cold unsalted butter, in pieces
- 90 g coconut fat, in pieces
- 473 g plain flour
- 6 tsp sugar
- 1/3 tsp (heaped) salt
- 135 ml ice water
Filling
- 705 g pumpkin purée
- 4.5 large eggs
- 280 g dark brown sugar
- 375 ml evaporated milk (unsweetened)
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp (heaped) grated nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp (heaped) salt
Method
- Make the pastry dough:
| By hand | By food processor |
|---|---|
| a. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, and stir to mix. Scatter the butter and shortening pieces over the flour mixture and toss with a fork. | a. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse 2 or 3 times to mix. |
| b. Using a pastry blender or knife, cut into the butter and shortening until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs. | b. Add the butter and shortening pieces and pulse 8 - 10 times until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs. |
| c. Drizzle the ice water over the mixture and toss with the fork until the dough is evenly moist and begins to come together in a mass but does not form a ball. | c. Add the ice water a little at a time and pulse 10 - 12 times until the dough begins to come together in a mass but does not form a ball. |
| d. Form a disk, wrap it tightly in a plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour or up to overnight. | d. Form a disk, wrap it tightly in a plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour or up to overnight. |
2. Once the dough has chilled for 1 hour, roll out the dough disk, line a round 24 cm pie pan (with detachable sides) with it and trim and finish the edges. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. You can use the leftover dough to create decorations to place on top of the finished pie.
3. Line the frozen pie crust with heavy aluminum foil and fill the foil-lined crust with pie weights (or dried beans, uncooked rice, etc.).
4. Bake at 200° C for about 15 minutes, until the crust dries out (the foil should no longer stick). Carefully remove the weights and foil. Reduce the heat to 180 ° C and bake about 5 minutes longer until the crust is lightly browned on the edges and dry-looking on the bottom. Let cool the pan on a wire rack.
5. In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin purée, eggs, brown sugar, and evaporated milk. Whisk until smooth.
6. Slowly whisk in the melted butter, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt until the mixture is well blended and smooth. Pour the filling into the prebaked pie crust.
7. Bake the pie until the filling is set, around 1 hour. The center should still jiggle slightly when the pan is given a gentle shake. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Place the baked dough decorations if using.
8. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream (optional).
