This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Brandeis chapter.
Fall is upon us, and that means finally ‘tis the season for the changing of the foliage, the smell of woodsmoke in the air, and a nice brisk breeze! ‘Tis also the season for the iconic pumpkin in its many forms. My favorite form in particular is pumpkin pie, particularly the recipe my mother makes. Here is her recipe for delicious pumpkin pie.
Pie Filling Ingredients:
1 large can pumpkin
1 can condensed milk or 2/3 cup half and half
¾ cup honey
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cloves
4 eggs
Directions
- Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl
- Whip until well combined (this can be done by hand, or with an electric mixer, depending on your fancy
- Pour into the dough shell (next there will be directions about making this!)
Dough ingredients
1 & 1/2 c. flour
1 stick butter – very cold
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water with ice in it.
Directions
- Put in a large bowl. cut butter in cubes and put in the flour. Cut the butter with a pastry cutter or a potato masher to cut the butter into pea-sized pieces. Don’t go any smaller than that. Just mush the butter with the masher/cutter until the chunks are roughly pea-sized.
- Drizzle about half of the water in and use your hands to mix the dough for a minute or so. Then squeeze some in your hand to see how it holds together. It should feel like playdough – pliable, but not wet, and not crumbly. If the consistency isn’t right, drizzle in a little more water and repeat until you get the desired consistency.
- Once it’s the right texture, dump the bowl out on the counter and gather the dough into a ball. Push it out with the heel of your hand, then repeat. Cut the ball in half, wrap it in foil or plastic, and then refrigerate it for half an hour. You can also make the dough in advance, refrigerate it and take it out about a half hour before using. For pumpkin pie you only need one half of the dough ball, so freeze the other for another time.
- Roll it out on the counter with some flour on it. You will need to sprinkle flour on top as well. Every time you need to flip the dough, you will need to sprinkle more flour. The flour prevents the dough from sticking to your hands or the counter. It should be thin but not so much that you can’t pick it up from the counter and handle it.
- Once you have a circle about 12 “, fold one side of the circle over and pick it up it off the counter. Lay it in the pie dish and then unfold the circle. To make sure that the dough sits well in the pie dish, push lightly into where the side of the dish meets the bottom. Then fold over the edges of the dough so they tuck under. Use either your fingers or a fork to make a pattern in the dough.
Baking instructions
- While you’re doing the crust, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- When the oven is done preheating, place the pie crust in the dish in the oven with the rack pulled out, and then pour the filling in. Make sure the dish is toward the center of the rack, so it doesn’t flip over while you’re pouring.
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes, then turn down to 350 degrees.
- Bake it for another 40 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center of the pie comes out clean.
- Either let it cool on the counter, or refrigerate it until you are ready to serve it.