Meta Given's Pumpkin Pie
Happy Thanksgiving!
An underrated gem, if you ask us.
First thing's first: whip up some pie crust (we like lapadia's simple Himalayan Blackberry Pie crust, also on FOOD52). We also like measuring flour with the old dip-and-sweep.
Super cold cubes of butter, come on down!
Pulse that food processor (or use a pastry cutter or your fingers) just until the butter and flour look like this.
Then dribble in some ice water.
Till it looks like this!
Moosh that dough into a disk and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. Go measure some spices or something.
See the little flecks of butter? Those babies will steam up into pockets of flaky, airy pastry.
Rolling between two floured sheets of plastic wrap is such a good short cut it should be illegal.
Like a delicious blanket.
Now trim your overreaching edges (bake those up on their own with a little sugar: pie cookies!).
And if you don't feel like crimping, don't crimp! Just tuck the edges under. And stick it back in the fridge while you turn to filling.
Regular pumpkin pie would have you bake with this pumpkin puree -- pretty, but sort of predictable, don't you think?
We like to push our pumpkin to the limit -- by cooking it down and caramelizing it. Extreme pumpkin pie.
A shower of sugar, spice (cinnamon + ginger), and everything nice.
It looks like this (and smells out of this world).
Eggs, milk, and cream, do your worst.
Starting to look like pumpkin pie, right?
Quick! To the oven! (No blind-baking required.)
Just 25 minutes till pie.
Going all the way to 400 degrees makes for a crispy golden crust and puffed middle.
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Author Notes: Caramelizing the pumpkin puree means that this is a pie with guts, one that won't just sit there phoning in the pumpkin flavor, burying it under lots of spice. But its genius is much more than that. You don't have to blind bake the crust. You use real milk and cream instead of evaporated milk, with predictably better results. And because you blast it at 400 degrees the whole time, it bakes in 25 minutes -- less than half the time of your average back-of-the-can recipe. From Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking, an underrated gem of a cookbook. - Genius Recipes
Serves 6
- 1 3/4 cup canned or fresh cooked pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- Unbaked, unpricked, chilled 9-inch pie shell (we like lapadia's simple Himalayan Blackberry Pie crust, also on FOOD52)
- Turn pumpkin into saucepan and stir over direct heat for 10 minutes until somewhat dry and slightly caramelized, stirring frequently. Remove from heat but keep hot.
- Mix thoroughly together the sugar, salt, and spices, and stir into hot pumpkin.
- Beat eggs, add cream and milk, and beat into pumpkin mixture until smooth.
- Pour immediately into unpricked pastry-lined pie pan and bake in a moderately hot oven (400° F) for 25 to 30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and only an inch circle in the center of the filling remains liquid. Cool thoroughly on cake rack before cutting.
- Note: Perfectly baked pumpkin pie has no cracks on its surface. Baking hot filling in a chilled crust at 400° F for 25 to 30 minutes produces a smooth, shiny good textured custard and a well-baked crust free from soaking. But if your pie dish is thicker glass or ceramic instead of metal, or you loathe underdone bottom crust, you might still want to blind bake it a little. Here's what we'd recommend: Blind bake at 350 F lined with parchment and filled with baking beans/weights until sides are dry and firm, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove weights, then bake until completely dry and firm (including bottom crust) and starting to turn golden, 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool thoroughly. Then watch the pie closely as it bakes -- it might be done early, since the cold raw crust isn't there to protect it. And if the edges are starting to look wrinkled while the middle is very jiggly, turn the heat down to 350.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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5 days ago adele93
should milk be 'lite' or full fat?
5 days ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
I've made this a couple of times and I just use whatever milk I have in the house (usually 2%). The cream gives it plenty of richness.
6 months ago Becky H Mozingo
Add some fine coconut well make it better, and use nutmeg .That goes for sweet patatoes pie also.
6 months ago Becky H Mozingo
Add some fine coconut well make it even better that goes for sweet patatoes pies also.
6 months ago Becky H Mozingo
Add some fine coconut well make it better.That goes for sweet patatoes pie also.
7 months ago zingyginger
I also used the same filling and baked it at the same temperatures and times (450 degrees for 15 min/300 for 45 minutes) on a finished Paule Caillat's Brown Butter Tart Crust and it turned out perfectly as well.
7 months ago zingyginger
Based on ApronsRUs' earlier comments about the original Meta Givens recipe, I made this with brown sugar instead of white, used 1 cup of evaporated milk and 1/2 cup of water instead of milk and cream and baked this at 450 degrees for 15 minutes then turned down the oven to 300 and continued baking for 45 more minutes.
I used Lapadia's pie crust recipe and blind baked it at 350 degrees for at least half an hour prior to adding the filling. I also snuck in 1 tablespoon of brandy for extra oomph.
Perfect!
7 months ago Monica8866
When I make this pie, I use the all butter crust from Smitten Kitchen. I do bake it a little longer than advised in the recipe, but it's pretty obvious when it's cooked. I have baked this pie at least 30 times now, and I have never had a problem with it. It gets rave reviews every time! My 2 year old starts squealing when he sees it come out of the oven!
7 months ago lizykat
I was intrigued by the cold pastry, cooking the pumpkin and of course the short cook time. So I have made this two times now and here are my 2 cents. The crust recipe is genius! easy to work with and tasty. (Lapidiais) Cooking of the pumpkin Fabulous! Now I need to agree with cook time of 25-30 min is off. HOWEVER, it is no reason for not making this pie; just leave it in longer. My ceramic pie plate 9 1/2" held a double batch of pie filling and so, of course, it took longer to cook, but I just kept an eye on it, jiggled the pan, when it no longer moved I took it out of the oven. I didn't keep track of the time, but I would say at least 45-50 min for my double pie. I read in the comments about Meta's original version so will try that version next time. I did make this pie according to directions and it was close but not done at 30 min, but I attributed that more to the ceramic plate than anything else. In any event ...most delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
7 months ago Yet_another_David
Of course, there's always Julia Child's superb, never-fail Fluffy Pumpkin. It is distressing to see people tying themselves in knots trying to make this ill-fated recipe work. Who has time for this kind of unreliability for a high-pressure holiday menu?
7 months ago MaSaBeMama
PS mine was great at the recommended baking time - cracked only after it was cooled.
7 months ago MaSaBeMama
made this for thankgiving - best pumpkin pie ever. not exaggerating. Added a bit of cloves. Would re do this on a preheated cookie sheet next time to cook the crust a tad bit more.
7 months ago MaSaBeMama
Other question - would sweet potatoes work with this too? Leftovers...
7 months ago JoanB
I made it last year, loved it, so chose it again this year. Admittedly, I used a store bought crust last time and I can't recall if I used a metal or glass pie plate. This year, using the suggested crust, it wasn't as successful. Using a metal pie pan. I finally took it out after almost 40 minutes. Crust was burnt on the bottom and the filling was not fully set. I will try again because I like the flavor, but might try another oven method, as suggested in the comments.
7 months ago ian.penrose.1
Having a big issue with time for cooking. I set the oven to 400 F, and my pie has been in for probably 40 minutes at this point. The edges of the pie are cracking, and the middle of the pie is still very jiggly. I don't know what I did wrong, but can anybody help? I made this recipe once before and had the same issue, just baked it longer. Did I do something wrong?
7 months ago Sue A.
I'm at the 40 minute mark right now too! Don't know what the deal is. How much longer till I ruin this pie?
7 months ago joalice.wall
I would set the heat between medium and hot. Also, I would stir constantly to make sure the pumpkin doesn't scorch.
7 months ago joalice.wall
Personally, I use canned milk undiluted (12 ounce can). No need to measure, it's 1 1/2 cups and will take care of the cream and milk both.
7 months ago Dconstantinople
I have Half and Half - can I use that for cream and for the milk part - should skim be used or 2% or whole nilk - which is best ?
7 months ago Alanai
I've never carmelized anything. How high do you set the flame and how do you make sure not to over or under do it?
7 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
I would use medium-high heat. The mixture should look darker brown in color and a bit drier than when you started, since the liquid will have been evaporating as it cooks down. Check out the slideshow above to compare, and don't worry too much about getting it exactly right. It may stick to the bottom of the pan, but it will loosen up as you pour in the other ingredients. Hope you like it!
7 months ago Alanai
Thanks Kristen. The caramelizing went fine, but the baking took about 40 minutes tat 400 degrees (and I use an oven thermometer to verify the temp). I guess I'll find out tomorrow if people like it ...
7 months ago Monica8866
Hi daisybrain. I use ground ginger!
7 months ago daisybrain
I would usually use ground ginger in a pie as well but when a recipe is written with just the word "ginger" and without the word "ground" I'm going to assume its fresh until told otherwise. The beauty of Food52 is that there is usually someone to ask. Love!
7 months ago daisybrain
Am I to assume that the ginger in this pie is fresh? Unusual for pie but I'll go with it. If I should use ground ginger someone tell me quickly.
7 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Yes, ground -- I'll update that in the recipe!
7 months ago daisybrain
Crisis averted. I wonder what would happen if I did use fresh ginger. I'll experiment another time.
7 months ago daisybrain
This pie was excellent. Usually I use pumpkin that I roast and then purée but this year I am off my game and the freezer is without a pumpkin stash. In light of this I used canned. It was just more economical and surprisingly good. I added nutmeg and bigger measurements of both ginger and cinnamon. The crust was made with my usual mix of 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour. I had no trouble with the baking and may have left it in a little longer . No big deal. Lastly I filled two ramekins with the filling amd made two crustless pumpkin custards for the gluten intolerant at my table. She was grateful.
7 months ago shortnmorose
The nerd in me wants to know the magic spell to "1. Turn pumpkin into saucepan."
7 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Ha!
7 months ago daisybrain
A moment when I wish there were a "like" on Food52. Where's my wand.
7 months ago MaSaBeMama
So obviously you havent attended Hogwarts cooking school???
7 months ago ejm
Curious if anyone has an approximate amount of pumpkin puree to aim for when doing the first carmelization/cooking down? I cooked my pumpkins today and they are a bit watery - will drain a bit, and freeze so those processes will get rid of some water but an approximation of how much cooked down puree would be a good guideline for me to have. The photos are a good help for guidance on color and texture, just after some approximate volumns. Made this last year and it was great! Thanks in advance for the help.
7 months ago magdance
Look sometime at Pichet Ong's Kabocha squash pie. Nut crust, cream cheese in the custard and caramel flavor in the brown-sugar-butter-cream sauce. A favorite.
7 months ago Babcia
Made this a week ago. Found it to be way too sweet. And bland! Did like the texture though; it is a more solid filliing. Had to bake it 7 minutes longer. Been making and baking my own crust and pies for over 50 years, so no problem wtth that. If I ever make it again, I will use my own spice mixture. BTW, I do own the Meta Given set of 2 cookbooks.
8 months ago Marc Osten - Marc's Culinary Compass
A great children's culinary activity AFTER the baking is done - http://www.marcs-culinary...
8 months ago Marc Osten - Marc's Culinary Compass
...and a great simple way to get the flesh out of a pumpkin - PUMPKIN CHUCKIN' OFF THE ROOF... http://www.marcs-culinary...
8 months ago DeirdreMS
Made it twice before the storm. Did not precook the crust eventhough I used a glass pie plate. Quite yum.
8 months ago JoAlice
If you're having trouble with the crust, try mixing an egg white and 1 tablespoon water and brush it on the crust before pouring in the filling..
My husband is diabetic so I substitute 'no sugar syrup' for the sugar. No one knows the difference.
8 months ago ApronsRUs
I have Meta Given's May 1958 "The Modern Family Cookbook" and the recipe is slightly different that what is posted here. The baking is seriously different and is much more effective.
While I agree that the cream and milk will be better and that was an improvement to the recipe, Meta called for 1 cup evaporated milk and 1/2 cup water.
Here are her baking instructions:
Bake in a hot oven (450 F) 15 minutes; then reduce heat to slow (300F) and continue baking about 45 minutes longer, or until the pie tests done.
I do this and it yeilds perfect results.
8 months ago ApronsRUs
Also...bake low in the oven to direct the 450 to the bottom of the pie tin and thus, baking the pastry shell. This is my method, not Meta's
8 months ago ApronsRUs
Her recipe also indicates it is your choice...3/4 cup white or brown sugar. I prefer brown in this recipe.
8 months ago erodg
This was the first pumpkin pie I ever made. It was outstanding! Thank you.
8 months ago erodg
This was the first pumpkin pie I ever made. It was outstanding! Thank you.
8 months ago Monica8866
This has been my "go to" pumpkin pie recipe for about a year now. i've probably made it 20 times, and it always comes out perfectly and gets rave reviews! Just made it again a couple of weeks ago, and everyone was thrilled to see it !
8 months ago Monica8866
This has been my "go to" pumpkin pie recipe for about a year now. i've probably made it 20 times, and it always comes out perfectly and gets rave reviews! Just made it again a couple of weeks ago, and everyone was thrilled to see it !
8 months ago Monica8866
This has been my "go to" pumpkin pie recipe for about a year now. i've probably made it 20 times, and it always comes out perfectly and gets rave reviews! Just made it again a couple of weeks ago, and everyone was thrilled to see it again!
8 months ago Emma at Cayuga St. Kitchen
Here is a recipe for homemade pumpkin puree: http://www.cayugastkitchen.... So satisfying when it's 100% from scratch, and we have pumpkins hanging around this season. So why not!
8 months ago Muse
Am going to use this recipe for our Thanksgiving feast...can't wait to try it!
8 months ago darksideofthespoon
I really wanted to like this pie, but it didn't turn out very successful for me... However, it was cooked perfectly. The crust was way too underdone, I would've blind baked it but I had no beans. Cooking the pumpkin didn't really add much oomph, either, and I'm all about caramelizing everything! :(
8 months ago darksideofthespoon
To clarify my comment: The pumpkin was cooked perfectly, no cracks. The crust, however, was a different story.
8 months ago Burf
i'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but after 30 minutes, my custard is still completely liquid. I'm gonna hang in there and see if I can get to the one-inch-of-wobbliness-in-the-center phase. Fingers crossed!
8 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Burf, I just noticed your comment. How did it work out?
8 months ago Burf
First off, this is a FANTASTIC pie! The best pumpkin pie ever. I would deny it if it ever got out that I'm on #4 in the last 19 days. I blame my oven, but I'm averaging 40-45 minutes per pie. I still get a crack or two on the top, so I'm guessing I'm probably overbaking?
8 months ago potterhill
I made this pie yesterday for Thanksgiving Dinner and I have to say it is the best pumpkin pie I have ever eaten, bar none. We all loved it. I made the batter half again to fit larger deeper pie plate and so baked longer. I love baking at 400 degrees, even though it goes against conventional wisdom. I can't imagine there could be a better recipe.
9 months ago EmilyC
Looking forward to trying this again. I thought I'd commented on my experience last Thanksgiving but apparently not. After completing step 1, I'd recommend letting the pumpkin mixture cool for 5 to 10 minutes before proceeding with step 3, and better yet, add the cold cream and milk first, then eggs. In my rush, I didn't wait that long, and my eggs curdled. Oops. Baked and enjoyed it anyways.
9 months ago magiere
This pie is absoultely the very best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted. Thank you so much for sharing this with the world :)
over 1 year ago carol87
I haven't done this recipe yet but I'm gonna try it really soon. It seems delicious!!! Greatest website, congrats xoxo from Uruguay
over 1 year ago bas26
This pie turned out just as good as mine but I don't see the value of cooking the pumpkin. It turns out this recipe is almost exactly like mine. The only difference is mine doesn't require cooking the pumpkin and uses brown sugar. I also found that the cooking time for blind baking was too short and I also had to cook the pie another 10 minutes for the filling to set. Although both recipes call for 3/4 cups of sugar, I always use a little less
over 1 year ago neighome
This pie has a lovely texture. I found the baking time far too short; I baked mine for 50 minutes. Maybe it needed more time on the stovetop? I also found it too sweet and will cut back on the sugar next time. Because I like the texture so much I'll definitely be trying this again, with a couple of tweaks.
over 1 year ago Matilda Luk
My comment was not to point out the shortcomings of the recipe--I've baked many a pie and I know my oven (slow) and my preferences (crisp crust all over please). There are many variables with this recipe, ie: no crust recipe (I used my mainstay), and how thick is too thick for the crust? I think the genius lies in the use of real cream and milk instead of evaporated milk; the drying of the puree; the high temperature (there is usually much babying of custards at low temperatures); and the proportion of spices.
I know that blind baking for only 12 minutes wasn't going to cut it for me and my oven--bottom crusts are rarely done enough for me. I just tailored this to my own taste and then compensated by cooking at a lower temp at the end. I still think that the pie this method makes is far superior to any other pumpkin pie I've made. Pie making is a long process of tweaking according to one's tastes, equipment, and technique level; every recipe I try teaches me something new about pie--it's not a science that can be encapsulated in one recipe. My recipe for crust works for many people, but not for all--I make a small adjustment in it to suit my taste, but does it mean that the recipe is a failure and not worth trying? No, not by a long shot.
over 1 year ago Yet_another_David
I generally love the genius recipes here, but so many of the comments indicate it does not turn out as described if you follow the directions, and nobody who tweaked the timing or the pre-baking of the crust sounds really satisfied with any of the tweaks they tried. I'm afraid even to try this until I see that the issues are resolved.
8 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Yet_another_David, I just noticed some of the comments you're referring to and updated the blind baking recommendation in the recipe to have more visual cues, since ovens and pans will all behave a bit differently. Thanks to all who've commented about their experience!
over 1 year ago Matilda Luk
I blind baked my crust for 30 minutes because I am that person who hates underdone crust--I put aluminum foil on all the sides so they wouldn't get too brown but didn't use pie weights (I just tapped down the crust every so often). I also pricked the crust--I knew all those little holes would fill in during baking--even though I'd be flirting with the custard leaking out and gluing the crust to my (metal) pan.
Results? The crust on the underside was still slightly underdone, but better, and I turned down the heat to 325 when the sides of the crusts were browning faster than the custard was setting. I baked the pie for 15 more minutes and it was perfect. I am not a huge fan of pumpkin pie--I don't like the aggressive spicing--but this pie has a really lovely, not-too-eggy/sweet/spicy taste that lets the squash shine.
over 1 year ago bas26
I used a glass pie dish...that's all I have. Blind baking using the instructions in this recipe resulted in an underdone crust. Also, I had to bake the pie longer than 30 minutes (about 10 minutes longer) to get the filling to set. I didn't want to bake it longer to get the crust done for fear of overcooking the filling.
The recipe also says not to prick the crust, but isn't that what is needed when you blind bake a crust?
over 1 year ago Sue Kappler
This is definitely a keeper!! It was so good...my oven temp was off by 25 degrees after I confirmed w/a thermometer so I ended up cooking it longer. A lovely custard consistency and so easy. I'm making it again this weekend to see how it goes now that I know to set the oven higher and verify the temp first. Didn't blind bake the crust and it was fine!!
over 1 year ago Topcer
I appreciated the simplicity of the recipe, but I had to bake the pie for at least an extra 10 minutes, and it was still a little too soft. Maybe I should have cooked the pumpkin longer?
over 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Kristen, you are so right, this is a genius recipe. I did blind-bake the crust because I was using a ceramic pie plate that's rather thick. The pie took 40 minutes in my very temperamental oven. What I love about it is the very strong pumpkin flavor and the fact that it's not too sweet--am looking forward to a piece for breakfast this morning.
over 1 year ago undeadgoat
Made it for tonight and it was a HUGE hit! My mom is keeping my printout of the recipe for future family use. I did get a bit of bubbling in the bottom crust, though, I would definitely prick it jf I made it again.
over 1 year ago djadewhite
I just made it this morning for the evening. It was awesome! The flavor was great, although I would definitely blind-bake next time. I also upped the ginger and added nutmeg. I like my pumpkin pie strong in spices. :) Will definitely make again!
over 1 year ago JadeTree
Ok - mine just came out of the oven! People are helicoptering past it at regular intervals, eying the pie lustily. Will post a report when the meal is eaten and the coma has lifted!
over 1 year ago healthycooking4all
Regarding the sugar, I never use traditional refined sugar in any recipe, since unbeknownst to most, it contains toxins from the refining process. I normally substitute either agave syrup (from the agave plant) found in most super markets, which is also wonderful on pancakes (it tastes similiar to maple syrup and actually comes in flavors like maple syrup) or stevia powder at 1/2 what a recipe calls for since it is alot sweeter than sugar without any calories and tastes great! What a healthier substitute for a great pie!
over 1 year ago djadewhite
Um...isn't agave syrup horribly refined? Some brands also contain fructose ratios that are similar to HFCS. This link might help:
http://www.foodrenegade...
over 1 year ago healthycooking4all
Great to have any real pumpkin recipes reach soo many.. Because of the milk and cream, for those who are lactose intolerant, I would subsitute vanilla almond milk which adds a wonderful creamy taste to any recipe. I use it all the time for cooking and cereal because it is so healthy and delicious regardless of health issues because of its great taste. Yum!
over 1 year ago healthycooking4all
Its great to see a pumpkin pie that retains the fiber thats such a great part of eating real pumpkin. However, I would never use an aluminum pan for any cooking, since the aluminum leaches into the food. Aluminum is one of the top ingredients that creates alzheimers...So, I would use safer pans and pots (not with teflon that is very toxic) that are coated with a thin layer of aluminum on the bottom for even and hotter heating on the stove top.