Classic Pumpkin Pie with Praline Topping

By á-1941

I'm going to use half and half and brown sugar instead and see how it turns out.

Ingredients

• Crust
• 1 1/4 cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (6 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea or table salt
• 1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) very cold water, plus an additional tablespoon if needed
• Filling
• 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree, from a 15-ounce (425 gram) can or homemade
• 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea or table salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• A few gratings of fresh nutmeg (or a pinch of ground nutmeg)
• 1 1/3 cups (315 ml) cold heavy cream
• 3 large eggs
• Topping
• 1/2 cup (95 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, or a little less of a coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (85 grams) pecans (I coarsely chopped 1/2 cup, left the last 1/4 cup in halves)

Details

Adapted from smittenkitchen.com

Preparation

Step 1

Make the pie dough:

By hand, with my one-bowl method: In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. (Some people like to do this by freezing the stick of butter and coarsely grating it into the flour, but I haven’t found the results as flaky.) Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir with a spoon or flexible silicone spatula until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.
With a food processor: In the work bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add butter and pulse machine until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Turn mixture out into mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir with a spoon or flexible silicone spatula until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.
Both methods: Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes. Longer than 2 days, it’s best to freeze it until needed.

Form the crust: On a floured counter, roll the dough out into a 12 to 13-inch circle-ish shape. Fold dough gently in quarters without creasing and transfer to a 9-inch standard (not deep-dish) pie plate. Unfold dough and trim overhang to about 1/2-inch. Fold overhang under edge of pie crust and crimp decoratively. Return to fridge until ready to fill. (See Notes below for par-baking directions, if desired. I rarely desire this.)

Heat oven: To 400°F (205°C).

Make the filling: Combine pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a sputtering simmer and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Scoop cooked pumpkin filling into bowl, and whisk in cold cream until smooth. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Pour filling into prepared pie crust.

Bake pie: For 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F (175°C) and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, until only the center barely jiggles and a toothpick inserted into it comes out pumpkin-free. (Damp is fine, but the toothpick shouldn’t have loose pumpkin batter on it.)

Let pie cool on a rack completely, if you, like me, prefer your pumpkin pie cool. You can hasten this along in the fridge. This pie is now ready to serve, but if you want to gild the lily a little, make the topping as well.

Make pecan praline topping: In a small/medium saucepan set over medium-low heat, combine the brown sugar, butter, cream and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until thick and bubbly, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla and pecans.

Serve pie: In wedges, ladles with pecan praline sauce. Extra pie (an unfamiliar phenomenon) keeps in the fridge for up to a week.

Notes:

For the crust: I use a half recipe of my go-to pie crust here; you can read this post for more details. You can also use any crust of your choosing, even store-bought. It’s really all about the filling.
Par-baking your crust: Once you’ve settled that, you get to choose whether you want to par-bake it or not, and decision comes down to how crispy you want the base of your pie. I do not par-bake pumpkin pie crusts, but I’m pretty lazy. If you’d like to par-bake your crust, once you roll it out, prick unbaked crust a few times with a fork, line it with lightly buttered foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dried beans or pennies. Bake at 400°F (205°C) on rimmed baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove paper or foil and weights, and bake 5 to 10 more minutes until crust is golden brown and lightly crisp. Keep oven on (you’ll need the same temperature to begin baking), fill pie and finish baking as instructed above.
Buying canned pumpkin: If you’re using canned pumpkin, make sure you buy pumpkin puree, and not pumpkin pie filling, which will come already aggressively sweetened and spiced.
Making pumpkin puree: My directions are here, but keep in mind that both butternut and kabocha squash also make very smooth, lovely fillings for pumpkin pie. You can use the same directions to prepare them.
Heavy cream: You can replace half of the heavy cream with milk, although there’s less fun in that; you can also replace the whole amount with a half-and-half, which always seems to be around when you’re entertaining, right?
Praline sauce: The pecan praline sauce, not unlike the sticky date pudding toffee sauce from two weeks ago, is best when it’s first made, and tends to become grainy when it’s reheated. Nobody complains, but if it’s going to bug you a lot, I recommend making it right before you serve the pie. You’ll only need 10 minutes and a small saucepan.