happy halloween

Pumpkin pie is one of those things that I savor even more just because I wait to eat it in the fall. Not that you can't just go buy a can of pumpkin puree and make it any day of the year, but it's more fun to wait. And I adore canned pumpkin, especially Libby's. It's so much easier than scraping out the sugar pumpkins...backbreaking, messy work that's completely unnecessary. It's also fun to decorate the edges of the pie shell with something decorative. In this case, I decided my efforts were a little insane: I cut out little triangles from the dough to create "spikes" to make my pie ghoulish. It was time consuming and came out quite hilarious.



First, you should make the dough, or if you like, the pate brisee. Who knew that from such an unassuming dough you can get a nice, buttery crust? I used to have so much trouble rolling out dough. I'd get completely frustrated and give up, bits of dough sticking all over the place. But I found my problem was not having enough flour on the board, on my hands and on the rolling pin. And constantly turning the disc around while rolling helps, all while doing it at top speed to keep everything from getting too warm. It takes much practice but is worth it.

Pie Dough
(Makes enough for one double-crust pie or two single-crust 9-inch pies)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

1. Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter, and pulse until mixture forms coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds.
2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream just until dough holds together without being wet or sticky, no longer than 30 seconds.
3. Divide dough in half, and shape into disks. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Classic Pumpkin Pie
Makes one 10-inch pie
1 1/2 cups (1 15 oz can) solid-pack canned pumpkin
1 recipe Pate Brisée
all-purpose flour, for work surface
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons heavy cream
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. On a floured surface, roll out the larger disk of dough into a 14-inch round. Fit the dough round into a 10-inch pie plate and trim the excess off so the dough is flush to the rim of the pie plate. Put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

3. Roll out remaining disk of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Whisk 1 egg and heavy cream in a small bowl; set aside. Using the dough, you can make any sort of decorative trim that you want. You can use cookie cutters to make leaf shapes, or, in my case, I chose to make triangular spikes. I cut out triangles that were about 1/2 inch on all sides. Then brush the edges of pie shell with egg wash. Arrange the leaves/triangles/shapes around the edges, pressing in. Brush the shapes with egg wash. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.

4. Cut a large circle of parchment paper and fit it into pie plate, extending about an inch off the edges. Fill with pie weights and bake pie shell 10 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment; bake 5 minutes more. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

5. Place the pumpkin puree in a large bowl. Add brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, nutmeg, remaining 3 eggs, and evaporated milk; whisk until combined.



I love how the mixture is made up of beautiful fall colors!

6. Reduce the oven temperature to 350. Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and fill the pie shell with the pumpkin mixture. Bake until all but the center is set, 50 to 60 minutes. It may look a little jiggly in the center, but it will set up once cooled. Let pie cool completely on a wire rack. Serve the slices with whipped cream.







Happy Halloween!