Caramel Spice Super Pumpkiny Pumpkin Pie with Brown Butter Crust, or how I fought the ubiquitous pumpkin pie post and lost.

Caramel Spice Super Pumpkiny Pumpkin Pie with Brown Butter Crust

By Irvin Lin

I’m kind of obsessed with layering or combining as many flavors as possible in my desserts, something that is very obvious if you peruse my blog. I’m going to guess and say it has to do with my FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) where I never want to choose just one thing and instead prefer to have it all. I fully blame my parents on that one, as I grew up in a Taiwanese-American background where we always ate family style, sharing all dishes on the table. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where the rest of the country finally understands how great it is to share dishes, instead of just having your own food. With this Thanksgiving pie, you can have both the warm spices of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves along with the smoky caramel and rich vanilla adding to the pumpkiness. The addition of the bay leaf creates an allusive fall scent that makes you feel like you’re walking through a forest of multicolored leaves raining down on you. Not a bad way to end a giant celebratory meal if you ask me.

Inspired by a recipe from Flour by Joanna Chang and a recipe from Gourmet Magazine (RIP).

Ingredients
Brown Butter Crust
1 cup + 6 tablespoons (320 g or 2 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups (280 g) all purpose unbleached flour
3/4 cup (100 g) almond meal (or flour)
1/2 cup (70 g) white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup cold vodka
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon water beaten together

Pumpkin Pie Filling
4 cups (850 g or 30 oz) of pumpkin puree (make sure to get pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling)
2 fresh bay leaves, cut in half (use fresh not dry)
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (100 g) powdered milk (try to find dry whole milk if possible)
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon (generous pinch) cloves
1 teaspoon sea salt

1. To make the crust, first put the butter in a large skillet and cook on medium heat until the butter fat starts to brown and smell fragrant. Pour the hot butter and brown butter fat in a heatproof bowl (I used a Pyrex measuring cup), scraping the brown butter off the sides and bottom of the skillet and into the bowl as much as possible.

2. Chill the butter until it is solid and cold (at least an hour, overnight if possible). Place the all purpose flour, almond meal, white whole wheat flour and sea salt in a large mixing bowl. With a balloon whisk stir vigorously until well blended. Cut the brown butter into 1/4” square cubes (be sure to scrape out any brown butter bits from the bottom of the bowl. Sprinkle the cubes over the flour, and then, using your hands, toss the cubes with flour, coating them with the flour. Then, using your hands again, squeeze the cubes of butter flat, until all the butter has been flattened. Then start rubbing and squeezing the flour and butter together, until the ingredients start to clump together.

3. Sprinkle the water, vodka and almond extract over the dry flour butter mixture and toss with a fork until it forms a shaggy dough. Gather the dough and split in half. Flatten each half into a 1/2” thick disk. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight (up to three days).

4. When the crusts have chilled and you are ready to make the pie, preheat the oven to 425˚F. Generously flour a flat surface and roll out the dough to a 12” circle. Fit the dough into a 9 inch deep dish pan. Try not to stretch the dough as you fit it into the pan. Decoratively crimp the edges of the pie crust and line with a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill with pie weights or dry beans/rice. Repeat with the second crust.

5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges of the pie crusts start to look golden brown. Remove the parchment paper/aluminum foil with the pie weights in it. Return the crusts to the oven and bake for 5 more minutes, until the crusts starts to look dry. Remove the crusts from oven, and brush the bottom and sides of each crust with the egg yolk wash, helping to seal the crust and keep it crisp. Return to the oven for 3 more minutes, until the crust looks dry and shiny. Lower the temperature of the oven to 350˚F and remove and cool the crusts while you finish making the pumpkin pie filling.

6. While the crusts are baking, place the pumpkin puree in a pan with the bay leaves. Cook the pumpkin on stove at medium high heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure the pumpkin doesn’t scorch or burn. The pumpkin puree should have reduced from 4 cups to about 2 1/2 cups and darken. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Let cool while you make the caramel.

7. Place the sugar in a large heavy bottomed saucepan with a silver bottom (avoid nonstick, as the dark coating will make it hard to judge the caramel color). Turn the heat to high, stirring occasionally with a heat proof silicon spatula or wooden spoon. As the sugar melts, continue to stir and shake the pan so all the sugar melts evenly. Once the sugar starts to brown, turn the heat off and let the residual heat of the pan continue to caramelize the sugar. You want the caramel to turn a dark golden brown, closer to chestnut but not mahogany black. If the caramel has stopped browning or isn’t dark enough, turn the heat back on to low to give it a nudge. It’s better to go slow and let the residual heat caramelize the sugar, as you can always make the caramel darker, but you can’t go backwards and if you burn the sugar, you have to start all over.

8. Once the caramel has reached the appropriate color, add 1 cup of the cream carefully (the caramel will steam, sizzle and seize up). Turn the heat back up to medium and cook until the caramel that has hardened dissolves into the cream (this may take a few minutes). Once most of the caramel has dissolved add the remaining 1/2 a cup of cream and cook until all the caramel is dissolved.

9. Pour the caramel into the pumpkin puree. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the pie filling. Add the vanilla extact and the powdered milk. Stir to combine with a balloon whisk. Add the eggs, egg yolk, spices and salt. Stir again to combine.

10. Pour half the pumpkin pie filling into one pie crust, and the rest into the other pie crust. Bake in the oven to 40 to 45 minutes or until the edge of the pie is dry and puffy and the center of the pie jiggles a tiny bit. Let cool for two hours on a wire rack to room temperature before serving. You can also make the pie the day before, let it cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Just make sure to let the pie come to room temperature before serving.

Makes 2 pumpkin pies