Spiced Pumpkin Pie

The pumpkins are in! We've been getting small, super sweet, little pumpkins weekly from our CSA--and from farm stands all around us in the Berkshires. Bruce and I have relished them every way imaginable: stir-fried, roasted, grilled. Talk about real food! But listen, in the end, is there anything better than pumpkin pie?

Especially when you're trying to get through some Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues? Now that the manuscript has gone in, I've settled back for a bit, a breather to do some reading (Dickens OUR MUTUAL FRIEND) and practice the piano. So I've gotten back to working on those darn spiky preludes and fugues in the late afternoon--while the smell of pumpkin pie and some warm, autumnal spices drift through the house. (By the way, Prelude #15 is absolutely terrific--so jagged, so much Soviet angst!)

On the blog, you and I have already been over the pie crust bit. You can find it here. I won't belabor the point--except to say that you need a single crust in a 10-inch pie plate. Now for the filling.

While you prepare the crust, preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the pie pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and their little membranes (a serrated grapefruit spoon works best), and place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet. It also helps to remove the woody stem (which can singe and smell bitter in the oven). Then bake until very soft, about 45 minutes.

Cool a few minutes, then scrape the flesh of the pumpkin off its shell and into a large bowl. You need about 2 cups. If your pie pumpkin is very small, consider roasting two. (What's the worst thing that can happen if you end up with extra? You have warm, mashed pumpkin with a little butter as a side dish for dinner?)

Whisk in (don't stir) 1 1/2 cups evaporated fat-free milk, 1/4 cup honey, 1/3 cup sugar (preferably unrefined sugar), 1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks, 2 tablespoons powdered fat-free dry milk, 2 tablespoons minced crystallized (or candied) ginger, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until smooth.

I really like the crystallized ginger in that filling--but I have a confession. The day I shot the pictures for this blog, Bruce used something else: candied clementines, made last winter and kept in the fridge since then. How in the world does someone make candied clementines? Ah, well, you have to wait until the December issue of FINE COOKING magazine to find out. That's when our story runs. Until then, crystallized ginger will give the pie a nice pop, a bit less subtle than those candied clementines.

Drop the oven to 350F, pour the filling into the pie shell, and bake until set if still slightly jiggly at the very center, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack at least 20 minutes before slicing. And make sure there's plenty of whipped cream on hand. Because you know what I think about whipped cream. It's a beverage.

Comments

[amy]

good timing -- my daughter was asking for pumpkin pie. do i need to back the crust like the lemon pie? thanks

[Mark Scarbrough]

Nope, Amy, no prebaking of the crust required. Just pour the filling in and bake.

[Katy]

Great pumpkin pie recipe. You should enter it into the Better Recipes Pumpkin Pie Recipe Contest.

[amy]

thanks for the tip -- this was one amazing pie! loved the ginger.