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???