Pumpkin Pie
Silky spiced pumpkin custard in a flaky butter crust — the one dessert that makes the whole house smell like the holidays.
Ingredients
- 1 pieceunbaked 9-inch pie shell(store-bought or homemade, chilled)
- 1 canpure pumpkin puree(15 oz, not pumpkin pie filling)
- ¾ cuppacked light brown sugar
- 1 ½ tspground cinnamon
- ½ tspground ginger
- ¼ tspground nutmeg
- ¼ tspground cloves
- ½ tspfine salt
- 2 largeeggs
- 1 cupheavy cream
- ¼ cupwhole milk
- 1 tsppure vanilla extract
Method
- 01
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 °F. Place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack to heat up — it will give the bottom crust a head start.
- 02
In a large bowl, whisk together the ¾ cup brown sugar, 1 ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp cloves, and ½ tsp salt until evenly combined.
- 03
Add the 15 oz pumpkin puree to the sugar-spice mixture and whisk until smooth and no streaks remain.
- 04
Whisk in the 2 eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next.
- 05
Pour in the 1 cup heavy cream, ¼ cup whole milk, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Whisk until the filling is completely smooth and uniform in color.
- 06
Set the chilled pie shell on a sheet of parchment. Pour the filling into the shell, stopping about 0.25 inch from the rim to prevent overflow.
- 07
Carefully slide the pie onto the preheated baking sheet in the oven. Bake at 425 °F for 15 minutes — the high heat sets the crust edge quickly.
- 08
Reduce the oven temperature to 350 °F without opening the door. Continue baking for 40–45 minutes, until the edges are set but the center 2 inches still have a slight jiggle.
- 09
Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let it cool completely at room temperature, at least 2 hours. The custard will finish setting as it cools.
- 10
Slice and serve at room temperature or chilled. Whipped cream alongside is optional but strongly encouraged.
Adapted from public domain & community sources