Ultimate Pumpkin Pie
Updated Dec. 2, 2022
- Total Time
- About 2 hours, plus 1½ hours’ chilling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2pounds butternut squash (1 small squash), peeled, seeded and cut into 1½-inch chunks (about 3 cups), see Tip
- 1cup/240 milliliters heavy cream
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- All-purpose flour, for rolling out the dough
- Dough for a single 9-inch pie crust
- 3large eggs
- ⅔cup/132 grams light brown sugar
- 1½teaspoons ground ginger
- 1½teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ⅛teaspoon ground allspice or pinch of ground cloves
- 1tablespoon bourbon or dark rum, or use 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
370 calories; 17 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 366 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Place two racks in the oven: one in the lower third and one in the upper third. Place a rimmed baking sheet on the lower oven rack and heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Step 2
Line another rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread butternut squash on it. Drizzle squash with 2 tablespoons of the heavy cream, sprinkle with granulated sugar and dot the top with butter. Roast on the upper rack, stirring once or twice, until squash is very tender, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, roll pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch metal pie pan. Fold over any excess dough, crimping the edges. Transfer to the freezer for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. (This helps the crust hold its shape so the edges don’t slump.)
- Step 4
When the squash is soft, transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes (and up to a few hours). Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees.
- Step 5
In a food processor or blender, purée the squash with the remaining cream until smooth. Add eggs, brown sugar, spices, bourbon and salt, and pulse to combine. The mixture should be very smooth.
- Step 6
Pour mixture into the chilled pie shell. Carefully transfer pie to the hot baking sheet on the bottom rack. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 300 and continue to bake until the crust is golden and the center jiggles just slightly when shaken, 35 to 45 minutes longer. Transfer pie to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving.
- If you are buying peeled, cubed squash, you will need 1¼ pounds. If you want to substitute canned pumpkin, you will need 1½ cups (the remaining purée in the can is great stirred into oatmeal).
Private Notes
Comments
Don’t scrimp on the spices, use cloves and allspice. Also add a pinch of mace. Makes all the difference in the end result. If you mix the filling at least 24 hours in advance (we do 2 days) and keep it sealed in refrigerator, this allows the spices to “bloom” and all the flavors meld thoroughly throughout the pie filling. I have to make two of these pies every year so there is enough for my husband and two sons. On occasion I’ve been known to make a couple extra so everyone else has plenty too
Three helpful tips: 1- blind bake the crust so the finished pie doesn’t have a soggy bottom 2- use kabocha squash 3) roast the squash whole, let it cool and scoop out the seeds then flesh (tastier& much easier than cubing & roasting)
It’s helpful that you specify a two-pound squash, but it would be more helpful if you specified how much purée we want to end up with. 3 cups is just meaningless when you’re talking about 1 1/2 inch dice. Why not be consistent, since you’re giving other ingredients by weight and do the same here. ? The answe is 350 grams of pulp.
I was disappointed in this filling. I prefer a pumpkin pie that is custard like but I found this to be a bit fibrous and dense. This could be because the recipe doesn’t offer exact measurements for the cooked squash pulp, but I think I would have had to drastically reduce the amount of squash. I think the caramelized squash flavor also overrides the flavors of the spice, so if you are going to use this recipe I recommend adding a bit more spice.
So I’m pretty sure last year and just now the filling split on me. Everything was cold, my theory is just that there’s a lot of water left in the squash or that the bourbon causes it. Last year I just baked anyway and it was fine. This year I had more time, so I troubleshooted. Put about half the mixture back in the blender. Blended while very slowly adding 1-2 TBSP of heavy cream. I saw the center was creamy, so just scraped the sides and blended until it came back together. Added the rest and blended that too. It was a lot of blending, but now it’s creamy and not grainy. Best pumpkin pie anyone has ever had every year.
I used kabocha instead of butternut or pumpkin, since that has been my squash of choice for pie for years. I doubled the recipe to make two pies, used 1 less egg in the doubled version, very slightly reduced the sugar because my squash puree was sweet on its own, and added some extra homemade pumpkin pie spice blend (I found it a little bland with just the recommended quantities). This will definitely be my new go-to pumpkin pie recipe, even if the roasting process is more of a hassle. Perfect texture, great flavor. Now if I could just get the crusts down…