Elevate Your Pumpkin Pie Recipe this Fall
Pumpkin Pie with Honey-Orange Whipped Cream
Recipe excerpt from Milk Street Bakes by Christopher Kimball
We love pumpkin pie, but we don’t love how dense, cloying and overspiced it can be. We wanted a lighter, fresher take with a pronounced pumpkin flavor. Canned pumpkin puree was a great place to start, but we intensified its flavor by giving it a quick sauté with dark brown sugar. This cooks off excess moisture and lends caramel notes to the mixture. A little bourbon adds complexity that complements the earthiness of the pumpkin and brown sugar, but an equal amount of orange juice works well, too. To give the filling tang and richness, we add crème fraiche instead of the typical evaporated milk. Honey-sweetened, citrus-scented whipped cream (recipe follows) is the perfect accompaniment.
Start to finsih: 1 hour 40 minutes (40 minutes active), plus cooling
Makes one 9-inch pie
- 15-ounce can pumpkin puree 149 grams (¾ cup packed)
- dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup bourbon
- 8-ounce container (1 cup)
- crème fraîche
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- Flaky pie pastry, partially baked (see additional recipe below)
- Honey-orange whipped cream (see additional recipe below)
Don’t use canned pumpkin pie filling for this recipe. Look for unsweetened canned pumpkin puree; the only ingredient listed should be pumpkin. After adding the bour-bon to the skillet, stir carefully if you’re using a gas burner, as splashes may cause the liquid to ignite. If this happens, the flames will extinguish after a few seconds, once the alcohol has burned off.
Heat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the middle position. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, stir together the pumpkin and sugar. Cook over medium high, stirring, until the mixture is thickened, darkened in color and reduced to about 1½ cups, about 10 minutes. Reduce to medium-low, add the bourbon and scrape up any browned bits. Transfer to a medium bowl.
To the pumpkin mixture, whisk in the crème fraîche and salt. Add the eggs and whisk until homogeneous. Place the pie pastry in the oven; warm for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour in the filling. Bake until the edges just start to crack and the center sets, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
FOR THE FLAKY PIE PASTRY
Start to finish: 3 hours (40 minutes active)
Makes one 9-inch pie shell
- 163 grams (1¼ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 141 grams (10 tablespoons) cold salted butter, cut into
- 1-tablespoon pieces
- 4 tablespoons ice water, divided
Don’t cut the butter into small pieces. Kept in 1-tablespoon chunks, the butter
still will be pebbly at the end of processing, not fine and fully incorporated, which is essential for flakiness. Also, be sure the butter is completely cold and firm before you begin; keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Finally, after fitting the dough into the pie plate, be sure to poke holes in it with a fork, then freeze for at least one hour. This not only will help the pastry hold its shape during prebaking, it also will allow you to easily line the dough with the foil without marring the sur-face, sides and edge.
In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt; pulse 3 or 4 times to combine. Scatter 3 tablespoons butter over the flour and process until well incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds. Scatter the remaining butter over the mixture and lock the lid in place. Through the feed tube, add 1 tablespoon ice water and quickly pulse 2 times. Repeat with another 1 tablespoon ice water, quickly pulsing another 2 times. Repeat with the remaining 2 tablespoons ice water, then pulse until the mixture is evenly moistened, has a curdy appearance and the butter is broken down into pea-sized bits, about 10 pulses; the mixture will not have formed a cohesive dough. Pinch a small amount between your fingers; it should hold together.
Working quickly, lightly flour the counter and turn the dough mixture out onto it. Using your hands and a metal bench scraper, gather it together and firmly press it into a rough 9-by-3-inch rectangle of even thickness. With the scraper, block and square the sides, forming a neater rectangle, then cut it into thirds, forming three 3-inch squares. Scrape up one of the end squares and stack it on top of the middle square, aligning the sides. Repeat with the third square.
Cut a 12-inch square of plastic wrap. Scrape up the dough stack, place it in the center of the plastic and wrap the dough. Using the palm of your hand, smash the stack, applying firm, even pressure, until it forms a rough 4½-inch square about 1 inch thick. Round off the corners as best you can by rolling the dough on its side, like a wheel, on the counter, forming a disk, which will be easier than a square to roll out into a circle. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
When you are ready to roll out the dough, if it is too firm to roll, let stand at room temperature 5 to 10 minutes. Dust the counter with flour, unwrap the dough and set it on the floured surface. Dust the dough with flour, then roll the dough into a circle about 13 inches in diameter and of even thickness. Drape the dough over the rolling pin and transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Gently ease the dough into the plate by lifting the edges while pressing down into the corners. Trim the edges, leaving a ½-inch overhang, then tuck the overhang under itself so the dough is flush with the rim of the pan. Using your fingers, crimp and flute the edge of the dough. With a fork, poke holes every inch or so across the bottom and into the sides. Freeze, uncovered, until firm, about 30 minutes, or cover with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 24 hours.
When you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the middle position. Remove the dough-lined pie plate from the refrigerator. Line the dough with a 12-inch square of foil, pressing the foil into the corners and up the sides, then fold the excess down to cover the fluted edge. Fill evenly with 2 cups pie weights.
Bake until the edges are golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, then carefully lift out the foil and weights. For partially baked pastry, continue to bake until the bottom is dry and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes; for fully baked pastry, bake until deep golden brown, 9 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
FOR THE HONEY-ORANGE WHIPPED CREAM
Start to finish: 5 minutes
Makes about 3 cups
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1½ cups cold heavy cream, 3 tablespoons honey and ½ teaspoon grated orange zest. Using the whisk attachment, mix on low until frothy, about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl with a spatula to make sure the honey is incorporated. Mix on medium- high and whip until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.
The American baking repertoire may be unparalleled in our claim to pies, biscuits, and cakes. But step off a plane in London, Mexico City, Istanbul, or Paris, and you realize how much more there we can learn about the art of simple, delicious baked goods.
We found a simple Spanish almond cake that uses no wheat flour. Loaf cakes that balance the sugar with slightly-bitter rye. Super-creamy Basque cheesecake that requires no water bath. Mexican sweet corn cake made in a blender. Or Catalan biscotti, sticky chocolate cake from Sweden, and crispy spinach and cheese borek from Türkiye.
We also include forgotten American recipes such as maple-glazed hermits and new classics such as peanut butter banana cream pie. And we go beyond sweets to include yeasted breads, savory tarts, pizzas, and flatbreads (some made in a skillet in minutes).
Most of these recipes are easier than you’d think, from beer pretzels to Danish dream cake. But in baking, the little things count—so Milk Street is here to help you avoid pitfalls with recipes that you can count on.
Our promise to you is that you will become the best baker you know!