In search of the perfect pumpkin pie. . .

Since today is a FEAST day, I thought it would be appropriate to share a recipe for pie here at Pie and Coffee. For some time I have been searching for the perfect pumpkin pie. I may have found it today. I have experimented with a lot of different pumpkin pie recipes but this one is the best to date.

This pie was made from basic ingredients, I started with a whole pumpkin and went from there. To make the mashed pumpkin — a couple of weeks ago I sliced a pumpkin into chunks and baked it at 350 degrees until they were soft, and then put them in the freezer. Yesterday I took some of it out of the freezer and let it thaw, and then mashed the pulp this morning with an electric mixer. I did not use a pie pumpkin, just an ordinary “jack-o-lantern” pumpkin that I got from a local farmer through the Oklahoma Food Coop.

The RECIPE (with notes about which farms I got the various ingredients from):

3 cups mashed pumpkin (from McLemore Farms in Colony)
1 cup honey (Honey Hill Farm north of Edmond)
3 eggs (from Lehman’s Eggs in Newcastle)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
16 ounces cream (Wagon Creek Creamery in Helena)

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into two unbaked pie crusts. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

To make the pie crust, I use “Dorothy’s Never Fail Pie Crust” recipe:

3 cups flour (Shawnee Mills, Shawnee)
1-1/4 cup butter (Wagon Creek, Helena)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 egg (Charles Horn, Cordell)
5 tablespoons water

I don’t know who “Dorothy” was — it presumably isn’t Dorothy Day — but her pie crust recipe works nicely. Mix the flour and salt, then add the butter and work the flour into the butter very thoroughly. Mix the vinegar and water, add the egg (slightly beaten), add to flour and mix thoroughly. Roll out between two pieces of wax paper.

As an experiment, I baked these pies covered with foil — this was suggested by Jo Logan, the bee keeper I got the honey from, since honey-sweetened baked goods tend to brown faster. The pies cooked just fine, but they did take an extra 15 minutes, so if you bake them covered, add 15 minutes to the 350 degree baking time. The crust came out lightly browned and not burnt.