Pumpkin Pie with Heirloom Wheat-Cream Cheese Crust

Why stop enjoying pumpkin pie once Thanksgiving has passed? For us at Cooks Without Borders, the November holiday simply marks the start of pumpkin pie season.

We go traditional with the spicing (who doesn’t love classic pumpkin spice?), and spike the filling with a touch of rye whiskey or brandy (Cognac or Armagnac are fantastic). For the crust, we turned to Roxana Jullapat’s Mother Grains for inspiration, and fell in love with her Sonora Wheat Pie Dough, which includes cream cheese along with the butter, and features whole-grain Sonora wheat flour for wonderful nuttiness.

READ: Cookbook Review: Roxana Jullapat’s ‘Mother Grains’ has all the makings of a new classic

Our friends at Capay Mills in Northern California are a great source for Sonora wheat flour; you can also find it at Grist & Toll, Hayden Flour Mills and Barton Springs Mill. Jullapat’s dough can be made with any hard red or hard white wheat heirloom flour, though. If you don’t have access to one, you could try a combination of 80% unbleached AP flour and 20% whole wheat flour. Just make sure the whole wheat flour is fresh (give it a good sniff; it turns rancid quickly if not stored in an airtight container in the freezer). You’ll need a 9-inch glass pie pan and either pie weights or dried beans, along with a pie-crust ring (either purchased, or cut from foil) to protect the edges from over-browning.

Note: The dough for the crust may be made up to two days in advance and kept refrigerated, or up to a month in advance and kept frozen.

Makes one 9-inch pie.

Ingredients

For the crust

123 grams / 7/8 cup Sonora wheat flour, plus additional for rolling

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

85 grams / 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 2.5-cm / 1/2-inch cubes

85 grams / 6 tablespoons cold cream cheese, cut into 2.5-cm / 1/2-inch cubes

30 ml / 2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling

One (425 gram / 15 ounce) can pumpkin purée

130 grams / 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark, not packed

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon rye whiskey or brandy (Cognac or Armagnac work great)

1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon or 1/2 teaspoon other cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Pinch of ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

237 ml / 1 cup heavy cream

For serving

Whipped cream (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the crust: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. Toss in the butter and cream cheese cubes in the flour mixture, and use your fingers to quickly cut the butter and cream cheese cubes into the dry ingredients by pinching and elongating the cubes with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse meal with the largest crumbs the size of hazelnuts. Make a well in the center, add the ice water and mix with your hands until a rough dough forms; you’ll probably see streaks of butter and cream cheese, but that’s OK. Transfer the ball, along with any crumbs, to a lightly floured board. Gather it all into a ball, then press the ball into a disk and wrap it tightly in plastic film. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, or freeze for up to a month.

2. Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough into a circle about 13 inches in diameter. Fold it gently and lightly in quarters or drape it over the rolling pin and transfer it to the pie pan. Fit the dough evenly into the pan, pressing it gently into the corners, and letting some dough hang over the edge. Use kitchen scissors to trim the overhang, if necessary, to 4 cm/ 1 1/2 inch. Fold the dough under about 1.25 cm / 1/2 inch all around, and use your fingers to crimp the edges. Chill the crust in the fridge for 20 minutes — this will prevent shrinkage.

3. Blind-bake the crust: With a rack in the center, heat the oven to 177 C / 350 F. Place a sheet of kitchen parchment in the crust, add pie weights or beans, and push the weights gently into all the corners. Use kitchen shears to trim any giant corners of parchment. Place the pie pan on a sheet pan, bake for 20 minutes, then rotate (for even baking) and bake another 20 minutes. Check to see if the crust is ready by gently pulling up a corner of the parchment to look at the bottom: If it’s lightly golden, it’s ready. If it’s not, bake it 5 minutes longer. Transfer the pie pan to a rack and let it cool — with the parchment and weights still in it — for at least an hour. Keeping the weights in will ensure that the crust doesn’t shrink as it cools.

4. When the crust has cooled (or a little before), make the filling, and heat the oven to 177 C / 350 F again, if you’ve turned it off. Put the pumpkin purée in a large bowl with the brown sugar and whisk them together until they’re smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in the rye or brandy, along with the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt. Then whisk in the cream.

5. Remove the pie weights and parchment, place the pie pan on the sheet pan again and pour the filling into the crust. Bake until the center doesn’t look liquid when you jiggle the sheet pan, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. About halfway through, rotate the pan for even baking. Check the crust for color: Once it looks golden, gently and carefully place the pie-crust ring on it to prevent over-browning. When the pie is done, transfer it to a rack and let it cool before serving — either plain, or with whipped cream.

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