About the Recipe
Once October hits, this pie is a holiday staple. Lucky for me, I grew up in a house where my mother took the time to make fresh pumpkin purée from our Halloween pumpkin carving discards. We would carve as she worked hard at the stove, boiling the flesh down and creating marvellous pumpkin purée. She would then freeze it for the very purpose of making this pie. I did not appreciate it at the time as much as I do now. There really is nothing better than fresh ingredients, plus putting good use to not only the seeds, but the flesh if the pumpkin makes the jack-o-lantern have a real purpose, other than just lighting up one night. Of course, fresh is best, but not all of us have the time to give when pumpkins are being scooped out. Nor, do we always scoop pumpkins when we want a delicious pumpkin pie. So lucky for us, canned pumpkin does exist all year round and works very nicely. My mom always made this pie with a graham crust, so to me, that is what a pumpkin pie needs. Homemade graham crust is super simple to make and totally worth the extra 10 minutes. However, again, if time is an issue, store bought graham crust is available and is a fast and easy solution. Top off the pie with a dollop of whipped cream and you are in pumpkin pie heaven. So creamy and so perfectly spiced with all the holiday flavors, there truly is nothing else quite like it. I hope you give this pie a go and that you love it as much as I do.
Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/2 - 2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs (12-14 sheets)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pie:
1 1/2 cups fresh or canned pumpkin purée
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 1/4 cups milk
2/3 cup evaporated milk
Preparation
Start off by preparing the pie crust.
Preheat the oven to 325F.
Crumble the graham crackers by placing sheets into a food processor. Grind them until you get a rough sand like consistency. (If you do not have a food processor, you can also crush them by hand, or by putting them into a large zip-lock bag and use a rolling pin or the bottom of a glass to crush the cookies into a sand like consistency).
In a large bowl mix together the graham flour, melted butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon until well combined and you have a wet crummy consistency.
Transfer to a pie dish and squish it down with the bottom of a glass to form your pie crust. Don't forget to squish it all the way up the edges too. You want to be making a vessel to hold your pie filling in place.
Once you have formed your pie crust place it in the oven and bake for a quick 10 minutes. This is to make sure that the crust is set and stays crispy for when you add the filling.
Meanwhile, you can prepare the filling.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin purée, sugar, salt and all the spices. Blend in the eggs, milk and evaporated milk until well combined. Pour the mixture into your prepared pie crust.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool and serve with a dollop of whipped cream. Enjoy!
