Ginger Pumpkin Pie
Another pumpkin pie? This one, from Alana Chernila, has a hearty whole-wheat crust, homemade pumpkin purée filling and is rich with crème fraiche and maple syrup. Not your everyday pumpkin pie. There is an option to use canned pumpkin, but why not give this made-from-scratch version a try. That is the thrust of her book, The Homemade Kitchen. She has also brought us her recipe for Popovers from the same book, so don’t miss those either if you are looking for a delicious exploration in the kitchen.
Recipes adapted and excerpted from The Homemade Kitchen. Copyright ©2015 by Alana Chernila. Photographs by Jennifer May. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
This recipe makes enough filling for a 10-inch pie, a bit larger than the standard. If you’re working with a smaller pan and have too much filling for your crust, pour the extra into a few buttered ramekins and bake them alongside the pie for the first twenty minutes. Then you get pumpkin custard while you wait for your pie. This makes a super-gingery pie, and the crème fraîche adds a texture and tang to the custard that makes one of my favorite kinds of pie even more delicious. To up the ginger factor (and I always want to), add 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger to your crust when you add the butter.
- 1 stick (1/2 cup; 115 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch squares, plus additional for greasing the dish
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon whole wheat or spelt flour
- 5 to 6 tablespoons cold water
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups (490 g) drained fresh Pumpkin Purée or 1 15-ounce can store-bought pumpkin
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240 g) crème fraîche
- ½ cup (120 ml) maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- For the Crust: Combine the butter and flour in the bowl of a stand mixer, using your hands to coat the butter in the flour. Put the bowl in the refrigerator.
- Combine the water, vinegar, and the salt in a measuring cup, stirring to dissolve the salt. Put the mixture in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the mixtures from the refrigerator and freezer. Using the paddle attachment, blend the flour mixture on low speed until it has the texture of crumbly meal. With the mixer still running, slowly pour the water mixture into the bowl. The dough will be crumbly at first, then after 10 or 20 seconds, it will come together in a ball. Stop the mixer.
- Turn the dough out onto the counter and press it together into a large disk. Wrap in plastic or waxed paper and press into a disk. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- For the Pie Filling and Assembly: Grease a pie dish that can easily survive the direct journey from the freezer to the oven (not glass). Lightly flour the counter and roll your crust to between ⅛ and ¼ inch thick. Fold it in half, then in half again; center it over the pan and gently unfold the crust. Trim the crust so it hangs about 1 inch over the side of the pan, fold the extra crust in on itself and crimp to create a decorative edge. Put the crust in the freezer while you make the filling. (The crust can be stored indefinitely in the freezer at this point—just put it in a freezer bag if you plan to freeze it for longer than a day.)
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, crème fraîche, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture is fairly uniform. Remove the crust from the freezer and place the pie pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the filling into the crust. Bake until the pie just barely jiggles in the center, 50 minutes to an hour. Let your pie cool for at least 1 hour at room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.
- Storage notes · This pie does well tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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