Pumpkin Pie
(American pumpkin pastry dessert)
Image by benimoto
Like roast turkey and cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie is an essential part of any American Thanksgiving meal.
Makes 1 9-inch pie, or 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
- Pumpkin puree -- 2 cups, or 1 (15-ounce) can
- Eggs, beaten -- 2
- Whipping cream, or evaporated milk -- 1 1/2 cups
- Brown sugar -- 3/4 cup
- Cinnamon -- 1 teaspoon
- Ground ginger -- 1/2 teaspoon
- Ground cloves -- 1/4 teaspoon
- Salt -- pinch
- 9-inch pie crust, unbaked -- 1
Method
- Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, beat together the pumpkin, eggs, cream, sugar, spices and salt until smooth. Pour the pumpkin filling into the pie shell and tap on a countertop to smooth out the filling.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then turn heat down to 350°F and bake for another 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Pumpkin pie is usually served with a dollop of whipped cream.
Pumpkin Pie Variations
- Making Your Own Pumpkin Puree: Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are usually too fibrous and watery to use for pies. Buy a sugar pumpkin instead and bake it as you would a butternut squash. Puree it, put it through a strainer and proceed with the recipe. (In fact, most of the canned puree you find in the store labeled pumpkin is actually butternut squash. Didn't know that, did you?)
- Pâte brisée is the perfect homemade crust for this pie if you don't want to use store-bought.
