Pumpkin Pie

I made this last year for Thanksgiving and plan to again this year. I am generally not a big fan of pumpkin pie, however, this one was a wonderful recipe I got from Williams-Sonomas website. It was actually fun to make with the extra pie crust punches I bought for fun. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Deep-Dish Piecrust

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. salt
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into
  1/4-inch pieces
6 to 8 Tbs. ice water
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 Tbs. waterDirections:
In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the 6 Tbs. ice water and pulse twice. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water, 1 tsp. at a time, pulsing twice after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide in half. Shape each into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes. Place 1 dough disk between 2 sheets of lightly floured waxed paper and roll out into a 12-inch round about 3/16 inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch deep-dish pie dish and press the dough into the dish. Trim the edges, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold under the excess dough and, using your thumb, decoratively flute the edges. Roll out the remaining dough disk in the same manner. Using decorative piecrust cutters, cut out about 30 cutouts and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the piecrust and the cutouts in the freezer for 30 minutes.Position a rack in the lower third of an oven. Place a baking sheet on the rack. Preheat the oven to 400°F.Brush the edges of the crust with the egg mixture. Line the piecrust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Place the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment and weights and bake until the crust is light golden, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. Brush the cutouts with the egg wash and bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool. Makes enough dough for one 9-inch deep-dish piecrust plus decorative cutouts. I even dusted them with cinnamon for a little extra flare.

Pumpkin Pie

For the filling:
2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (from about
 1 1/2 cans, each 15 oz.)
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup milk
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. brandyLightly sweetened whipped cream for servingDirections:
To make the dough, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sugar and pulse to blend. Add the butter and process in short pulses until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 Tbs. of the ice water and pulse twice. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water, 1 tsp. at a time, pulsing twice after each addition.Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Cut off one-third of the dough and shape into a disk. Shape the remaining two-thirds of the dough into a disk. Wrap the disks separately with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.Position a rack in the lower third of an oven. Place a cookie sheet on the rack. Preheat to 400°F.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes. Place the large dough disk between 2 sheets of lightly floured waxed paper and roll out into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Brush off the excess flour. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch Emile Henry deep-dish pie dish and fit the dough into the dish. Trim the edges, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold under the excess dough and, using your thumb, decoratively flute the edges. Using a fork, gently poke holes in several places on the bottom of the crust.

Place the small dough disk between the same 2 sheets of waxed paper, flouring the paper if needed, and roll out the dough.