Bourbon Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream
Thanksgiving 2015 was many things for me– for us (I’m getting more used to saying that now). It was my first Thanksgiving as a part of an engaged couple. This year, thinking about all of our family back in Alabama, Thanksgiving was especially difficult. I will admit that there were times when all of this cooking felt decidedly pointless. I had many thoughts: why am I doing all of this for just the two of us? who really cares? what are we doing? this is so much work and effort for a celebration with only two people.
It was a real struggle. There were times when I almost quit cooking entirely, and I came close to calling off the meal.
However, we kept cooking and ended up having a good time and making a great meal!
For us, any great cooking adventure starts with an equally fabulous bottle of wine. We found a great bottle of red and opening it up as the rosemary-sage rolls were headed into the oven was a calming moment for me. Everything seemed to be coming together, and it began feeling much more like the cozy Thanksgivings I know and love!
There are a few dishes that I will always associate with Thanksgiving. I usually don’t eat them outside the context of the holiday and Thanksgiving just wouldn’t feel right without these sides. A vegetarian, sage dressing is one of those dishes. Green bean casserole with crispy onions on top perfectly pretends to be the vegetable of the table. We had all of these things ready to go into the oven and complete our meal, when I decided that candied, gelatinous cranberry and marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes were not dessert-y enough.
So, we decided to make a pie, because, why not? Pies are chill, right? And, as if we didn’t have enough to handle in our tiny kitchen, I had the bright idea to try a brand new kind of pie with special decorations on top. I’m not even a pie expert, but I suppose the wine had me feeling overzealous.
The above pie is the result of our adventure in Thanksgiving baking. While the filling did overrun the edges a bit, it is an absolutely delicious dessert and I highly recommend it. However, we spent an inordinate amount of time hand-making those tiny decorations. The acorn is mine and the holly leaves are William’s creation.
Let me just say- it is 100% not worth your precious Thanksgiving day to sit around building decorations to make your pumpkin pie look more like fall. Pumpkin itself is the essence of fall, and when you’re left with a tiny hunk of plain pâte brisée, you won’t care that it looks like an acorn, just that it isn’t nearly as good without the delicious bourbon-pumpkin filling!
Bourbon Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons salted butter
- ~5 tablespoons ice water
For the Filling
- 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons bourbon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Vietnamese cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
For the Maple Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup use the good stuff!
Instructions
Make the crust dough.
-
Combine the flour, salt, and butter in a food processor and pulse until crumbly.
-
Stir mixture in the food processor and begin adding in the ice water, one tablespoon at a time.
-
Pulse and add in the water interchanging just until the dough comes together in a ball.
-
Wrap it in parchment paper and chill it in the refrigerator for one hour.
Roll the crust.
-
Roll the dough out onto a floured work surface.
-
Flatten the dough into your pie pan and trim the edges so that they hang over the edge of the pie pan by about 1″.
-
Crimp or style the edges to your liking. You can also prick the crust with a fork to give it an easy designed look.
-
Place it in the refrigerator to chill for another half hour.
Bake crust.
-
Cover chilled crust in tin foil and fill the tin foil with pie weights or dried rice/beans.
-
Bake in 375F oven for 20 minutes.
-
Remove the pie weights and bake for 5 more minutes.
Make the filling.
-
Combine all the filling components into a large bowl.
-
Let the crust cool to room temperature and pour the filling (carefully) into the crust. Do not overfill, you may have extra filling.
-
Bake at 325F for one hour.
Make whipped cream.
-
Beat the whipping cream and maple syrup together in a stand mixer or food processor until stiff peaks form.
-
Cut and serve the pie immediately, garnishing with whipped cream.
