Pumpkin Pie

The eldest has been press-ganged into providing the baking labor for Thanksgiving this year.  He is a dab hand with cooking and usually things turn out pretty well.  He does have a tendency of leaving a frightful mess in his wake, but that is a function of being a novice as well as a teenage boy.

He has been practicing on the willing subjects of the younger and myself.  Pumpkin pie was made on Saturday evening.  Most of the work was done with a happy heart, but he was a touch crestfallen when he was informed that the pie would be eaten on Sunday with dinner, not as a Saturday late night snack as was his intent.

        Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée)

• >2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling 
• 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the cold butter into the flour with a pastry with a fork or pastry blender if you have one available , pour the water into the flour a bit at a time, until it is just sticking together into a ball.

Wrap up the dough ball in plastic wrap and let it sit for at least an hour in the fridge.

Roll out the dough and plop into a pie pan.  Press down along the bottom and all sides. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with dried lentils (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and lentils (save these for later use) and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

       Gabe's Pie Filling

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 
• 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten 
• 1 cup half-and-half 
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter 
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 65, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature.