Pumpkin Pie
By Farmers’ Market Institute, lover of food and all things local
I asked my colleagues at the Institute if each of them had a favorite pie. Syri, the Operations Director, said her favorite is pumpkin, which is the pie featured today. It was my favorite as a kid because I got to make designs for the top using scraps from making the crust.
Pumpkin pie is all about the spice and an excellent crust. This recipe by by Sally’s Baking Addiction uses cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper. She adds 1 tablespoon of cornstarch as a thickening agent and to keep it from cracking. The recipe below is by Chef John, a former instructor at the California Culinary Academy who now has lots of his recipes at AllRecipes.com. His recipe ups the spice level by using Chinese 5 Spice, which generally includes cinnamon, anise, cloves, fennel, and peppercorns or white pepper. (You can learn how to make your own here.)
The Recipe
Ingredients
- 15-ounce pumpkin puree (roasted then pureed or canned)
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
- 1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
PREPARATION
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Whisk together pumpkin puree, egg yolks, and egg in a large bowl until smooth. Add sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and Chinese 5-spice powder; whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Fit pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate and crimp edges.
- Pour filling into the pie shell and lightly tap on the work surface to release any air bubbles.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake until just set in the middle, 30 to 40 more minutes. A paring knife inserted into the filling, 1 inch from the crust, should come out clean. Allow to cool completely before serving.
Note
Cover the pie half-way through baking to avoid burnt crust.
This locally inspired recipe is brought to you by Pam Walker. Pam is an avid home cook, writer, and local farm and food activist who is also a board member of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute. Thank you, Pam, for helping inspire us to use locally sourced ingredients!