Pumpkin PIe
For the pumpkin filling:
1 ¾ cups canned or fresh cooked pumpkin puree ¾ cup sugar ½ tsp salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground ginger ½ tsp allspice ½ tsp nutmeg 2 eggs 1 cup heavy cream ½ cup whole milk For the crust: 2 ½ cups of flour 1 tsp salt 1 cup of Stryker leaf lard about 10 tbsp of ice water |
- In a large bowl mix in the flour and salt. Measure out a cup of chilled lard. Using a pastry knife or your fingers, incorporate the lard in the dry mixture until the lard is broken into pea sized balls. Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time stirring gently until the dough just comes together.
- Do not overwork the dough. The secret to a flaky crust is the fat staying intact until it bakes. On a lightly floured surface bring the dough into a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap. At this point, refrigerate the dough for at least and hour and up to a day. You could also freeze the dough and use it on another day.
- Pull out the chilled dough and between pieces of wax paper, flour the dough ball and begin to roll out the dough to ¼ “ thick.
- Tip - My rolling pin was MIA this morning when I needed to roll out my dough. In a pinch you can use a clean empty wine bottle as a rolling pin!
- Line your pie pan with the dough and trim the edges with a knife. You can get fancy and pinch around the edges for the scalloped look. Return your pie crust to the fridge as you prepare the pumpkin custard filling.
- This recipe is unique because you heat up the filling first. It claims to give you a shiny crack free custard. Empty a can of pumpkin into a small pan. Heat the pumpkin for 10 minutes constantly stirring.
- Whisk in all the other filling ingredients to the hot pumpkin. As quickly as possible, pour the hot mixture into the cold pie crust and begin baking in an oven preheated to 400°F for 25 - 30 minutes.
- The custard is ready when only an inch in the center of the pie is liquidy. When you take the pie out to cool, the custard will firm up.
You can see how flaky the lard makes the pie crust as soon as it comes out. The pumpkin custard is silky and smooth, crack free!