Salted Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Salted Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie



When a Saturday looks like an all-day drizzle and the last colorful leaves are shivering off dripping trees to join the heavy carpet of Autumn's colors on the ground below, I don my apron and get out my mama's baking pans for a happy day of cooking in my kitchen.  This lovely pie was the result of last weekend's baking endeavors on just such a day as raindrops streamed down the window panes while I rolled out pie dough with the scratchy tunes of Louis Armstrong for company.

Pumpkin pie is an all-time favorite of mine.  Whenever my mom would ask me what kind of pie I wanted her to make, my answer was always the same: "Pumpkin!"  Fall and Pumpkin go hand-in-hand, and I honestly can't imagine one without the other.  I ran across this variation of pumpkin pie on the lovely blog of Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest and couldn't wait to try it.  I must say, it's a new favorite and will be replacing my traditional pumpkin pie on my Thanksgiving table this year (gasp!).

So here's the recipe, with some slight adaptations.  Enjoy it!

Salted Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie

(Fits a 9-inch old-fashioned deep dish pie pan)

Crust:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling (I used Golden Pastry Flour, an unbleached, unbromated organic flour)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup buttermilk (more if needed)

Pumpkin Pie

2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

Pecan Pie

1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon
1 1/2 cups raw or toasted pecans

Instructions

Crust

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and use your fingers or a pastry cutter to break the butter into the flour until mixture resembles small peas. Whisk egg yolk with 1/4 cup cold buttermilk in small bowl and then add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon, drizzling in more buttermilk as needed (no more than 1 tablespoon at a time), until dough just comes together (a few dry spots are okay). Gently knead dough on a lightly floured surface until no dry spots remain, about one minute. Divide dough in half. Shape each piece into a circular disk.

Grease a 9-inch pie pan.

Roll out 1 disk of dough onto a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch round (reserve the other round of dough for another crust, you do not need it for this recipe). Carefully transfer the crust to the prepared pie plate. Lift up the edges and allow the dough to sink down into the dish. Press firmly into bottom and sides of pan. Trim edges to even out crust, then prick the bottom of the dough gently with a fork a few times. Cover the pie plate and place in fridge for at least an hour and up to two days.

Pie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the pumpkin pie filling, mix together the pumpkin, heavy cream, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, salt and vanilla in a mixing bowl until combined. Pour the mixture into the bottom of your chilled pie crust.

To make the pecan pie filling, cream together the sugar and butter until combined. Add one egg at a time, scraping down the sides if needed until the eggs are fully incorporated. Add the maple syrup, salt, vanilla and bourbon until combined. Stir in half of the pecans.

Carefully spoon the pecan pie filling over the pumpkin filling. Once you have added all of the pecan pie filling to the crust, sprinkle on the remaining pecans.  Add a sparse sprinkling of course sea salt.

Place the pie in the middle rack of oven and bake for 45 - 55 minutes or until the center has just a little jiggle to it. If the top of the pie is burning before center is done, cover with foil. Allow to cool completely before serving. Store in fridge and bring to room temperature before serving if desired.



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