Harvest Pumpkin Pie

Servings:

Cooking Time:

Ingredients:

• 2 Deep Dish, unbaked pie shells, thawed
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten (for the leaves)
• 1 can (or 16 ounces fresh cooking pumpkins) pumpkin puree
• 2/3 cup firmly packed, light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out one pie shell with a rolling pin.
• Using a paring knife, cut out leaves (as best as you can) of different sizes and then a large pumpkin shape. Make vines by wrapping dough around rolled up strips of tin foil.
• Place the cut-outs on a baking sheet. Brush each with the egg yolk and bake until browned, about 2-4 minutes.
• Remove decorations with a spatula and cool. Carefully slide the vines off of the foil to avoid breaking them.
• Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and increase the heat to 400 degrees.
• Place the remaining pie shell in a deep dish pie plate. Line the crust with foil. Fill the foil with dried beans and then bake for 8 minutes.
• Remove beans and foil and prick the dough with a fork. Bake an additional 6 minutes, then transfer the pie plate to a wire rack to cool (completely).
• In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Mix it well.
• Stir in the cream, milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour into the cooled crust.
• Bake until the filling is just set and a knife or toothpick, inserted into the center, comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
• Arrange pumpkin cutout in the center of the pie. Arrange the vines and leaves around the pie in a decorative pattern, placing the leaves around the outside edge.

Bake the filling without the crust in a greased, rectangular pan. Serve squares with a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon for a Harvest Custard.

When rolling the dough, lightly flour the rolling pan and work area to prevent the dough from sticking. You can also use wax paper on the top and bottom, and roll the dough between them.