I have to title my pumpkin pie recipes by year now. There’s a pandemic one where I roasted fresh pumpkin, there another one where I settled on what I thought would be my go-to traditional pumpkin pie recipe. Way back in the blog there is a Caramel Pumpkin Pie recipe adapted from one of my favorite bakers, Dori Greenspan. This year, we have a slightly adjusted recipe as a result of the insane taste test I did last weekend. More on that here.
This recipe is nearly identical to the Traditional Pumpkin Pie recipe on this site, but it has less cream and I experimented with some baking methods.
There are three main approaches to baking a pumpkin pie that I have seen throughout the many recipes and articles I have read:
The Hot Flash Method: The main one seems to be to start the pie at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350 and bake for another 25-30 minutes. I trust all of these sources, but in my oven it never works out that well. My pie bakes too fast, which means the crust is not done (always a total of 30-35 min) and it ends up cracking despite my best efforts to capture the perfect jiggle when I remove it.
Even Steven Method: The next approach is to bake it the entire time at 350. This works well for me, though I admit I do end up with errant air bubbles and slight cracks sometimes.
Low and Slow Method: This weekend, I watched Alison Roman’s Home Movies Thanksgiving Special and she recommends the low and slow baking method for pumpkin pie. In this variation, you bake at 325 for 40-50 minutes. I experimented with this and I really liked how the pie baked. Barely an air bubble or crack to be found (the results of this method are pictured above).
Below is the recipe I will be following this year. However, I think you should choose the baking method that works best for your oven or that you have the most experience with. I’m going to do low and slow but who knows… next year I will probably be back with a whole new theory!
