Pie Crust

▢2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
▢1 teaspoon kosher salt
▢2 tablespoons sugar
▢12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into ¼-inch cubes
▢½ cup vegetable shortening, ice cold
▢¼ cup vodka, cold
▢¼ cup water, cold

Pumpkin Filling

▢15 ounces pumpkin puree, canned or homemade (see notes below)
▢3 large eggs
▢1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar, packed
▢1 tablespoon cornstarch
▢½ teaspoon kosher salt
▢1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
▢½ teaspoon ground ginger
▢¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
▢⅛ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground, to take
▢1 cup heavy cream
▢¼ cup whole milk
▢1 large egg, beaten plus 1 teaspoon milk for brushing

Instructions:

Pie Crust
In a large bowl add flour, salt, and sugar, mix to combine.
Add the cold cut pieces of butter and shortening to the flour, toss to coat. Use your fingers or pastry cutter to cut in the shortening and butter into pea-sized pieces into the flour mixture.
Sprinkle vodka over dough mixture. With a rubber spatula using folding motions to mix, pressing down on dough until slightly tacky and sticks together. If the mixture feels dry, sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of water in at a time, and fold until it forms a dough (up to ¼ cup water).
Divide the dough into two balls, one double the size of the other (bottom crust) and the smaller for decorations.
Place dough balls on two separate plastic pieces and flatten into 4-inch disks. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes until chilled, or up to 2 days.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the larger dough ball to a 12-inch round, or about ¼-inch thick. Ease the dough into a deep 9-inch pie plate.
Trim the overhanging dough to 1-inch and fold it under itself. Decorate the edges as desired and chill the crust until firm, about 30 minutes.
You can use the other smaller dough ball to create decorations for the top of the pie. Brush those pieces with beaten egg and milk mixture, and bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
Remove crust from the refrigerator and brush edges with beaten egg and milk mixture. Using pie weights, pre-bake crust for 10 minutes. Once done remove and transfer to a cooling rack. In the meanwhile make the pumpkin filling.

Pumpkin Filling

In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, three eggs, and brown sugar.
Add the cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, heavy cream, and milk. Whisk vigorously until everything is combined; the filling will be slightly thick.
Pour filling into pre-baked crust. Fill about halfway about 3 ½ to 4 cups of filling.
Bake the pie for 20 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil or a pie shield to prevent the edges from getting too brown.
Return the pie to the oven and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until the center is almost set, and may still move slightly. When a knife inserted near the center comes out clean the pie is ready.
Transfer pie to a wire rack and cool for 3 hours. Serve immediately with decorations and whipped cream if desired. Pie can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Equipment  :

Pastry Blender
Cooling Rack

Notes :

Pie filling adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction and pie crust adapted from Serious Eats.
Fresh homemade pumpkin pureecan be used for the pie instead of canned.