Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and were able to spend some time enjoying the company of your friends and family, or whomever you are thankful for this year. This Thanksgiving I spent some quality time with my family, which was absolutely wonderful. This holiday was made even more special because it was the last holiday that I will celebrate while living at home! I’d mentioned that I had some pretty exciting changes going on for me right now and I finally feel like I can talk about this one. I purchased a condo a couple of months ago and I am just a few days away from possession now. I still feel a little nervous talking about it, like I could somehow jinx it, but I am also so excited and happy to share this news.

So, this Thanksgiving, as usual, I am thankful for my wonderful friends and family, but I am extra thankful for my amazing parents who have always given me nothing but love and support (although, yes, sometimes it has been tough love). I like to think of myself as a decently level headed, well adjusted adult and I think I owe a lot of that to my parents and the way that they raised me. I will miss them a lot, but I also can’t wait for this new, exciting chapter in my life!

This Thanksgiving I offered to make dessert. I had originally suggested these delicious looking Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing but was pretty much intermediately shot down by both my mom and brother, who informed me that pumpkin pie was a must. I am not really a big pumpkin pie fan, but if the people are demanding pumpkin pie, well gosh darn I am going to give the people what they want.

Luckily we came across one of Bobby Flay’s Throwdown recipes that provided a bit of a spin on the traditional pumpkin pie, so that made me feel a little more excited about making the pie. This recipe has a fairly traditional pumpkin pie filling, but makes things more interesting with the graham cracker crust and boozy whipped cream.

Throwdown Pumpkin Pie

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly warm
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pumpkin filling:
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped and reserved

Bourbon-Maple Whipped Cream
1 1/4 cups very cold heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped and reserved
2 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon (to your taste)

For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add all the ingredients for the crust to a food processor and pulse until combined; it should feel like wet sand, and just come together.

Spread the mixture evenly into a 9-inch pie pan, using your finger tips or the flat bottom of a glass. Firmly press the mixture over the bottom and sides of the pan.

Put the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake until the crust is light brown and firm to the touch, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

For the filling:
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugars in a large bowl. Add the butter, pumpkin, cream, spices, salt and vanilla seeds and whisk to combine. Strain the mixture into a bowl.

Pour the strained mixture into the baked pie crust and bake until almost set, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove and let come to room temperature.

Note: The filling makes more than what is needed to fill the pie shell. You are able to freeze the excess.

For the whipped cream:
Combine the cream, vanilla seeds, syrup and bourbon in a large chilled bowl and whip until soft peaks form.

Garnish each piece of pie with a dollop of the whipped cream before serving.

Although, like I mentioned before, I am not the biggest pumpkin pie fan, I thought this pie was a wonderful improvement on traditional pumpkin pie. The graham cracker crust went perfectly with the pumpkin filling, so much so that it kind of made me wonder why all pumpkin pies don’t have a graham cracker crust. The whipped cream was also a delicious addition, but I mean, really, how can you go wrong by adding fresh vanilla, Jack Daniels and Maple Syrup. The whipped cream definitely had a boozy kick and also tasted pretty fantastic in my coffee. 

This recipe was pretty easy to put together and I think if you are nervous about making a pie crust, which can be quite finicky, but want to make your Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie from scratch, then this might be the perfect recipe for you!

Happy Thanksgiving and Tuesday!