Just in time for Thanksgiving, Alton Brown came out with a new Good Eats episode “American Classic IX Pumpkin Pie“. I have never made my own pumpkin pie before so I was looking forward to trying this recipe to see if it would be worthy of a spot on the Thanksgiving menu. Below you will find my notes from this recipe. For the full recipe, visit Food Network’s website.
1. This recipe calls for homemade pumpkin puree, not the stuff out of a can. Alton gave instructions on how to make the puree. For more details, read my post on the puree.
2. Alton forgoes the traditional crust in favor of one that combines crusted up ginger snaps with brown sugar, ginger, and butter. The crust was pretty easy to make.
3. The filling was also pretty easy to make. Be careful not to burn your pumpkin puree when you are heating it up. Mine was pretty thick already, so I just warmed it before adding the half and half. Speaking of which, I like that he used half and half instead of the condensed milk that most recipes call for.
4. My wife likes her pumpkin pie with a lot of cloves, so I added them even thought they weren’t in the recipe. I also add a little bit of cinnamon (about 1/4 teaspoon).
5. The cooking time is suppose to be between 45-50 minutes. The center of the pie should be jiggly while the outsides pretty set. For me at 40 minutes the center was pretty well set, not jiggly at all. But we like out pumpkin pie to be on the firm side in this household so I wasn’t disappointed.
The pie came out really well. It had a great texture and the flavor was superb. I think next time I make it I will try it with a more traditional crust, not that the crust was bad, but my wife prefers the tradition.
Recipe Grade: A-
[…] Pie | Click here to read my full review of this recipe. His pumpkin pie uses a ginger cookie crust along with the […]