Deep-Dish Pumpkin Pie with a Butter Crust

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a wide bowl. Drop in the cold butter cubes and toss them through the flour, then flatten each cube between your fingertips into a rough sheet. Keep going until the bowl looks like a pile of ragged coins and shaggy crumbs. Those flat pieces of butter turn into steam pockets in the oven, which is where flakiness comes from, so don't work them down to sand.

2. 2

   Bring it together

   Sprinkle over 4 tablespoons of ice water, one at a time, tossing with a fork after each. Squeeze a handful of the mixture: if it holds together without crumbling apart, you're there. If it won't hold, add water a teaspoon at a time. Press the dough into a thick disk, wrap it, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

3. 3

   Roll and line the pan

   On a lightly floured counter, roll the disk into a 13-inch round, turning it a quarter turn every few passes so it doesn't stick. Drape it into a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan and ease it down into the corners without stretching — stretched dough shrinks back as it bakes. Trim the overhang to about 1 inch, fold it under itself, and crimp. Freeze the shell for 30 minutes, solid.

4. 4

   Par-bake the shell

   Heat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the lower third. Line the frozen shell with a crumpled-then-smoothed sheet of parchment and fill it right to the rim with pie weights or dried beans, pressing them against the sides. Bake 20 minutes, until the crimped edge is set and just starting to color. Lift out the parchment and weights, prick the base a few times with a fork, and bake another 6 to 8 minutes, until the bottom looks matte and dry with no shiny patches. Turn the oven down to 325°F.

5. 5

   Cook the pumpkin

   While the crust bakes, put the pumpkin purée, both sugars, all the spices, and the salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a spatula and scraping the bottom, for 5 to 7 minutes. The mixture will darken, stiffen, and start to sputter and sigh at you. This drives off water and blooms the spices in the hot purée — skip it and you get a looser, flatter-tasting pie.

6. 6

   Finish the custard

   Pull the pan off the heat and whisk in the evaporated milk until smooth. Let it sit for 3 minutes so it's warm rather than hot, then whisk in the eggs, yolk, and vanilla. For a truly glassy texture, pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup, pressing any stubborn bits through. It will look alarmingly thin — that's correct.

7. 7

   Fill and bake

   Set the par-baked crust on a rimmed baking sheet, still warm if you can manage it, and pour in the warm custard. Fill it to about a quarter inch below the crimp; hold back any extra rather than overfilling. Bake at 325°F for 45 to 60 minutes. It's done when the outer two inches look set and dull, the center still wobbles as one soft unit when you nudge the pan, and an instant-read thermometer in the middle reads 175°F. Pull it there — carryover heat finishes the job, and pushing past 185°F is what causes that crater-like crack down the center.

8. 8

   Cool completely

   Cool on a wire rack for at least 3 hours. The custard is still setting the whole time it cools, and slicing early gives you a soupy wedge. Serve at room temperature or lightly chilled with softly whipped cream.

9. You did it! Help us bring baking back home by selling your delicious baked goods on Homebaked!

Baker's Tips

• 1.

  Not all canned purée is equally wet. If yours looks watery in the can, cook it a minute or two longer in step 5 until it mounds on the spatula.

• 2.

  If the crimped edge is browning faster than the filling sets, ring it with a strip of foil or a pie shield for the last 20 minutes.

• 3.

  An instant-read thermometer is worth more here than any visual cue. The classic knife test only comes out clean once the custard is already slightly overbaked.

• 4.

  Pouring warm filling into a warm crust shortens the bake, which means less time for the bottom crust to absorb moisture.

• 5.

  Roasted fresh pumpkin works, but purée it and then cook it down further — it carries much more water than canned.

• 6.

  This pie is better on day two. Bake it the day before, cool fully, then refrigerate uncovered for an hour before wrapping so condensation doesn't settle on the surface.

Equipment

• 9-inch deep-dish pie pan
• Rolling pin
• Pie weights or dried beans
• Medium saucepan
• Fine-mesh sieve
• Rimmed baking sheet
• Instant-read thermometer
• Wire cooling rack

Storage