This is an incredibly tasty treat and tastes better than the photo suggests. I just couldn’t get a good photo before it was all gone. 😮
It’s been a while since we posted a dessert. So this post was due. It’s also late because you currently cannot find pumpkins.* Nevertheless, every Fall we purchase several nice sugar pumpkins to make pumpkin puree. One regular sugar pumpkin makes roughly 5 cups of puree. Once the puree is made you have accomplished the most difficult part of this recipe and, for the most part, any pumpkin recipe. 🙂 Pumpkin puree is inexpensive to make and stores very well so there is no excuse not to make pumpkin puree when pumpkins are abundant. The problem is that once you have made pumpkin puree what do you do with it? We’ve shown you our sour cream pumpkin pie and our pumpkin soup with a Caribbean flair. Baby Lady makes a killer pumpkin bread but I never get her to slow down enough for me to get photos to post her recipe. Pumpkin puree goes well with apples to form a beautifully luxuriant sauce you can use for rabbit, pork or chicken. It is also used in risotto. Today, however, it’s a dessert and this is what we did.
Ingredients
For the Pie Dough – Mike a pie dough. I’m not going to give you a dough recipe because any dessert dough will work. Whatever is your favorite pie dough, make it. If you don’t have a favorite pie dough, I recommend the One Pie Dough to Rule Them All by Chez Pim but add 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt because this is a dessert dough. It is a relatively simple and rather fool proof pie dough. She also gives you beautiful step-by-step photos for instruction. I like this dough a lot and it makes a beautifully flaky crust. Others swear by Smitten Kitchen’s Pie Crust 101, which is derivative of Cook’s Illustrated. I like Deb’s site and have followed her for years (not to mention Cooks Illustrated) but I personally prefer Chez Pim’s recipe. It’s a personal preference kinda thing. Nevertheless, whatever pie dough you like, use it.
For the Pumpkin Custard
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup packed, brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
For the Pecan Syrup
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
- 2 eggs
- 1-1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp Bourbon
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup pecan pieces (halves if you have them)
Instruction
Once you have your pie dough finished, make the pumpkin custard. Start by adding the brown sugar to a mixing bowl,
followed by the sugar
salt
freshly grated nutmeg
cinnamon
beaten egg
allspice
cream
butter
and lastly, pumpkin puree
Beat on medium speed of electric mixer (or by hand) until the batter is smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
Now, make the pecan syrup to pour over the top. Start by adding the sugar to a mixing bowl.
Now, add the dark corn syrup,
the salt,
the eggs,
the cinnamon,
the melted butter,
and the bourbon.
Mix all the ingredients together until it is completely combined, smooth and opaque.
Now, add the pecans.
Pour the pumpkin custard into a blanched pie shell
Followed by slowly pouring the syrup evenly over the top.
Place the pie in an oven preheated to 325 F and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, roughly 4 hours.
Although once cool you can serve it, the pie is best if it is refrigerated overnight. Serve & enjoy.
NOTES: * If you don’t have pumpkin puree, you can always use canned pumpkin. Most people use canned pumpkin. I simply prefer homemade puree but the choice is yours. Whatever you do, do NOT buy canned pumpkin pie filling thinking it’s canned pumpkin. Pumpkin pie filling has various spices added to it already; whereas, simple canned pumpkin is pumpkin puree from God only knows what type of pumpkin (or squash) with a few additives/preservatives for longer shelf life. It’s the additives and preservatives that always make me reluctant to buy canned goods and is one of the reasons I make my own pumpkin puree.
Trying to get a good photo for the blog, I made this twice and still didn’t get a photo I really liked. The second time I made this I used an 8 inch spring form pan and doubled the recipe. It makes a wonderful looking pie and is incredibly pretty. In fact, I prefer it with the spring form pan. The problem in getting a good photo for presentation is that the pecan topping does not slice very well. So, the next time I make this I am going to try a bread knife and “saw” through the pecan top to see if I can get the great photo I want. 😀
REMCooks 
You will be forgiven for the lack of prime plated shots. By my reckoning there are 23 action shots in this post. You obviously exhausted the poor photographer.
Lovely looking pie.
Thanks, Conor. It was a rather lengthy post with a lot of steps but it is a great pie. My photographer was our eldest son, Quickstep. He didn’t have anything better to do. He also didn’t have to buy the meal. So, manning the camera was his contribution. 😉
It does look pretty excellent. Brave of you to manfully stand in and take the hit for the poor finished dish pic. (It’s not that bad at all.) I have just decided to abandon my pork and cranberries post because my final shot looks like something the dog would ignore. Frustrating.
This is certainly my type of pie…pumpkins and pecans…it doesn’t get any better! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Laila. 🙂 Pumpkins and pecans go together beautifully. The bourbon is an added plus. 🙂
Sounds like a nice recipe. Butternut squash is still available around here, but perhaps their flavor had diminished?
Thanks, Stefan. You could use butternut squash as a pumpkin substitute with no problem. It’s a little sweeter but will work quite well. In fact, when there is a scarcity of pumpkin, it’s not unusual to find out that your canned pumpkin is actually butternut squash. 😮 You can also substitute sweet taters/yams, as well.
I fell in love with this upon reading the ingredients! Great job Richard – and your son did a great job with the photos. I 100% understand where you’re coming from, Conor, there’s been more than one recipe I haven’t posted ’cause I just couldn’t get a decent photo of it…. Heading off to ‘pin’ this one immediately Richard!!
Thanks, Cecile. I actually made this recipe twice in hopes of getting a good photo (something I had never done before) but everything was so hectic and before I could get the perfect photo, it was gone again. 😮 It was very frustrating. If it weren’t for the fact that this is a wonderful pie, I probably would not have posted it and I couldn’t bring myself to make another one. I truly wasn’t and still am not happy with the plated shot. Oh well, that’s the joys of blogging. 🙂
I have at least three posts I want to rephotograph… but I have a feeling, at least with one (it’s a curry) that it’s still gonna come out looking a bit as if someone ‘had been sick’! ; o )
Nice. We both have a bourbon baked good on our blog this week! 🙂 This sounds wonderful.
It’s funny, isn’t it? While the Europeans are all doing galettes des rois, we Americans are all breaking out the bourbon.
I did see your rye whiskey banana bread and loved it. I really like good rye whiskey and generally keep a bottle on hand but my true favorite is bourbon. In fact, the only whiskey of which I am not overly fond is Scotch. It’s something about the peat filtering. Of course, most of my whiskey drinking friends prefer the Scotch and just think I’m weird. 🙂
Oh my gosh. I posted a similar recipe on Thanksgiving. We are totally on the same food wavelength! 🙂 You totally had me at bourbon, by the way. Delectable photos + recipe.
Thanks, Shanna, for the nice compliment. I loved your chocolate bourbon pecan pie. It was much prettier than this one, too. 🙂
Haha. I beg to differ. Your pie wins the beauty contest for sure! And, we know it tastes amazing.
Well this certainly looks appealing, sans good plated shot or not! The issue is I am not much of a sweet eater, and I ALWAYS make my grandma’s Texas Pecan Pie every year for the holidays. BUT! My husband and daughter prefer pumpkin pie over pecan pie, so maybe later this year I can compromise. 🙂
Thanks, Kathryn. 🙂 It’s a wonderful compromise. I’m sure your husband will love it.
Drooling…….! My two favorite pies made into one!! Good work, cook!
Thanks, Liza. I actually thought you would like this one. 🙂 Been following your activities in BA and it looks like your business is doing well. I hope 2014 is a banner year for you. 🙂
Oh yeah! New apron?
Thanks, Mimi. No, the apron is really old. I just finally washed it. 😀
Ha! Well I like it. And trust me, there are many photos of mine I don’t approve of online… Time is the biggest challenge, and hungry people!
Pumpkin and pecan sound amazing together!! Nicely explained as well. 🙂
Thanks, Serena. This is a wonderful pie
This certainly does elevate the ordinary pumpkin pie to new levels. I bet the bourbon puts it ott!
I love bourbon. I got the idea for this because of a bourbon pecan pie I buy in Portland, Me. from Two Fat Cats Bakery. It is incredible. I have loads of pumpkin puree and needed a pie for the Holidays. Ergo, this was it. 🙂 The bourbon really does take this over the top.
very nice! I love bourbon in pies 😉
Big yum!
I think it’s fair to say, that everything in life would be a lot better with a little bourbon. I love Pecans, Pumpkin and Bourbon so the obvious step is to try them all together as suggested. I happen to love a good slog of whiskey in my marmalade too 🙂