By Frankie Cannata-Bowman

Classic Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Pastry Recipe x 1
(Good for 2 whole pies & freezes great!)
 

1 ¾ cups + 2 Tablespoons of all purpose unbleached flour

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons frozen unsalted butter

1 whole egg + cold water filled to 200ml

Tools and Equipment: dry measure cups, whisk for mixing, large bowl, teaspoon measurement, liquid measuring cup (different from dry measure!), food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin.

Method:

  • Measure flour and salt and mix together into a large metal bowl (metal conducts heat less quickly and we want a nice cold crust!)
  • Using a box grater, grate your cold butter into the bowl with the flour, mixing often so the butter doesn’t stick.
  • Once your butter is grated, transfer to the food processor and pulse until butter is cut up in to tiny pea sized shapes. *Exact size of the cut butter is based on your preference of a more flaky/crumbly crust. You can cut up the butter too much, resulting in overworked gluten and a pasty substance
  • Prepare your egg & water mixture by whisking thoroughly until the egg whites are completely incorporated
  • Pour liquid into the butter flour mix and pulse one or twice until it just comes together. We will finish the dough by hand from here to avoid overworking in the machine.
  • Dump dough onto a clean work surface and bring the rest of it together gently until it forms a ball. *Using a pastry cutter instead of your hands is a good idea. Your hands are warm! Do not knead!
  • Flatten gently, wrap in plastic wrap and cool in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

 

Roll Your Dough & Pre-Bake Your Shell

After your dough is chilled properly, you can place it onto a freshly floured work surface

*Preheat your oven to 350* F or 325*F if using a convection oven.

Method:

  • Cut your dough into quarters with a knife or pastry cutter and form each one gently into a round disk. (*If you are not making 2 pies freeze half of your dough for up to 3 months or refrigerate up to a day).
  • Add flour on the top and bottom and roll your dough into a 12inch x 1 cm even disk.
  • Dust off excess flour (doesn’t taste good when baked) and gently place your rolled dough into a pie tin, this will be your bottom layer.
  • Press the dough gently against the sides of the pie tin. You will have a extra dough hanging of the sides. This is good!
  • You will now flute the edges of your pie, adding that classic wavy pie edge. Gently fold the excess dough underneath itself, creating an even folded layer around the edge of your pie shell. Press down to seal the fold.
  • With you non-dominant hand, hold your index finger and thumb a half inch apart. Position this hand on the inside of the pie shell. With your dominant hand, use the index finger to press the dough from the outside into the half inch crevice you’ve created with your other hand. Repeat this motion around the outside of the pan
  • Place a second pie tin on top of your shell and find something to weigh it down (dried beans, more pie shells, baking stones)
  • Cook for 15 minutes in the oven.
  • Remove the weighs/pie tins, turn and cook for 5 minutes more. Check the shell to see that it is halfway cooked. It should be mostly cooked but with very little color.
  • Cool completely before adding pumpkin filling.

Filling Recipe x 1 (Makes enough for 1 pie)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons dark maple syrup

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 eggs yolks

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons heavy cream

½ teaspoon salt

2 egg whites

Tools & Equipment: 2 bowls, whisk, dry measure cup, wet measure cup, teaspoon/tablespoon measurements

Method:

*Preheat oven to 350*F

  • Combine pumpkin, sugar, maple, spices, egg yolks in a bowl.
  • Pour in melted butter and then milk/cream.
  • Whisk whites in a separate bowl to soft peaks and then fold into pumpkin mix.
  • Immediately pour into par baked shell, place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
  • Rotate pie and cook for another 15 minutes, dropping the temperature of the oven by 10 degrees to 340*F 
  • It should be getting close by now. Shake the baking sheet gently to see if the middle of the pie is set. If it’s still liquid in the middle, bake for another 5 minutes. When the pie is done, it should have a slight jiggle but you will see no sign of liquid movement.
  • Cool at room temperature for several hours and serve with fresh whip cream.