How to make the best homemade Pumpkin Pie from scratch form the Pie Crust to the Pumpkin Filling (made with my homemade pumpkin puree).In this recipe I show you how to always get a crispy, crunchy (and not soggy!) pie crust with a super smooth and creamy Pumpkin filling without cracking on top. If you're not familiar with Pumpkin Pie, this recipe is perfect for you because I expose you all the tips to get a delicious Pumpkin Pie that everyone will love, even if you're not a Pumpkin lover!This recipe is the classic one, perfect for Autumn and Holiday season.For the filling I made my homemade pumpkin puree (here the recipe), but you can also use canned pure pumpkin puree.Topped with some whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon, it's aboslutely irresistible!
In a food processor place flour, salt, sugar, cubed chilled butter and mix with pulse function until well combined and crumbs form. Don’t mix too much, you don’t have to heat the butter.
Add water little by little and mix until get moist crumbs. The water amount depends on your flour, maybe you couldn’t need all the water, so add it little by little and check the dough that should not be too wet.
Transfer the crumbs onto a baking paper sheets and press the crumbs together until get a dough (don’t touch the dough too much, you don’t have to heat it with your hands).
Place some plastic wrap over the dough and roll it until get a 37 cm-15 inch circle.
Fit a 25 cm-10 inch pie pan with the rolled dough + baking paper and remove the plastic wrap on top.
Trim the extra dough to a 2,5 cm – 1 inch overhang.
Fold the overhand under itself to create a rim.
Crimp the rim with your knuckles as you can see in the video.
Place it in freezer for about 10-15 minutes to chill.
Prick the bottom and the sides of the crust with a fork: this will prevent it to puff in the oven.
Place a baking paper sheet onto the pie crust and fill it with dry beans, raw rice or pie weights to blind bake the crust.
Bake in preheated fan oven at 210°C-410°F for 15-18 minutes.
Remove the pie weights, place aluminium foil on the rim to prevent burn and bake again in preheated fan oven at 190°C-375°F for 15 minutes or until the bottom is slightly golden.
Cool down until prepare the pie filling.
Filling
In a medium size pan, mix together sifted cornstarch, sugar, salt and all the spices.
Add the warm milk and mix until combined.
Add Pumpkin Puree and mix until combined.
Bring to a simmer over medium low heat and stir often.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together eggs and vanilla.
When the pumpkin mix is simmering, remove from the heat and add 1/3 of the hot pumpkin mix into the egg mix: mix immediately.
Add the rest of the pumpkin mix into the eggs and mix until well combined.
Brush the bottom of the pie crust with egg whites to waterproof it and avoid that it turns out soggy.
Pour slowly the pumpkin filling on the pie crust through a spatula or a spoon: with this method you break the larger air bubbles. For break all the air bubbles you can also tap the pan onto the work surface and heat the filling with an hair dryer.
Brush the edges of the pie crust with some egg wash and cover it with aluminium to prevent burn.
Bake in preheated fan oven at 170°C-340°F for about 45-55 minutes or until the filling is set and won’t jiggle.
When the pie is done, turn down the oven, slightly open the oven door and cool the pie down into the oven for about 30 minute to slowly cool down: it prevent the top to crack.
Remove from the oven and cool down completely before serve it.
I prefer to refrigerate the pie for 2 hours before serving it, but it’s optional.