Ultimate Pumpkin Pie
How to make the ultimate pumpkin pie with the perfect pie crust from start to finish.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter cubed and chilled
- ½ + ¼ cups ice water water with some ice cubes to keep it cool
For the filling:
- 2 cups 15 oz pumpkin purée (I use homemade)
- 360 g evaporated milk
- 1 cup sugar brown, white or a combination of the two is great
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground all-spice
- ½ tsp ground cloves optional if using all-spice
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla not in the video but always nice to add!
- 1 egg mixed with 1 tsp of water for egg wash
- sugar for sprinkling
To decorate:
- Pie crust leaves* see note below
- Pumpkin seeds
- Cranberries dried or fresh
Instructions
For the crust:
- To make the crust, mix together the flour, sugar and salt, using a fork or pastry blender.
- Next, add the butter. I like to cube it and then pop it into the freezer for about 30 minutes before using.
- Cut the butter into the flour mixture until you're left with small, pea-sized bits of butter. The mixture should resemble the texture of breadcrumbs.
- Mix in the ice water using a fork. Add the ½ cup first, and then 1 tbsp at a time until the mixture comes together into a ball. You'll form the dough into a ball using your hands, but be careful not to overwork the mixture as you want to keep the overall temperature of the dough cool.
- Divide the dough into two portions and wrap in cling-film. Then place into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or in the freezer for 30 min.
- READY TO ROLL: Dust a surface with flour, dust a ball of dough with flour and roll the dough to about ⅕ inch thickness (¼ cm), dusting with flour as you see necessary. It should generally have a larger diameter than the pie plate. Gently pick up the dough (you can actually roll the dough back onto the rolling pin- see video) and gently place into the pie plate. I used a 10 inch pie plate. Cut off a little of excess hanging, leaving about 1 cm (½ inch) of excess hanging. Add the snipped off excess to places you feel are lacking in dough.
- Tuck in the 1-cm excess and using your thumb and forefinger from one hand and your thumb from the other hand, crimp the edges (see video for more details). You can also press a fork around the ridge of the dough.
- MAKE AHEAD: The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and freezes well for several months (just make sure it's tightly wrapped). This is a great make-ahead recipe and can be done well before the pie needs to be made.
For the filling:
- Combine the pumpkin purée, evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla if using, and blend till smooth.
- Mix in the the spices, salt and sugar.
- Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust.
- Brush the edge of the crust with egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar. This will give the crust a golden brown color and a nice sheen.
- Bake the pie at 200 C (425 F) for 15 min, then reduce the oven temperature to 180 C (350 F) and continue baking for 35 min or until the center of the pie has set.
- Cool slightly before serving, or serve cold out of the fridge plain, or with whipped cream/ice cream.
Notes
To make the pie crust leaves, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Place on a parchment-lined baking tray and brush with egg wash (1 egg + 1 tsp of water) and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake for around 30 min at 200 C (375 F) for 18-23 min minutes or until golden brown.
Katia's family notes that 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice can be used instead of the nutmeg, cloves, allspice and ground ginger combined.
Get my recipe for pumpkin purée.
Pie crust adapted from Smitten Kitchen, filling adapted from Katia and her family.