Are you “pumpkined-out?” I can’t blame you if you are since you’ve probably been gobbling the remaining leftovers since Thanksgiving — and I know for a fact that some folks (you know who you are) have even raided the refrigerator for a pumpkin pie breakfast. Still, this recipe (adapted from Everydaypie.com) is so delicious I just couldn’t wait until next Thanksgiving to share it. There’s no shame in baking another pumpkin pie before the season is out. I used a “cheese pumpkin” for this recipe, which gave it an exceptional flavor, but you can certainly use canned pumpkin instead. Actually, you could even make this pie with different squashes too, or even pureed sweet potatoes. Whatever you do, make sure you prick the crust and blind bake it before filling it or you’ll end up with a wet bottom — and who wants that?To blind bake the crust, I usually butter one side of a piece of aluminum foil and place it into the uncooked pie crust, then gently pour in some beans to weigh it down. These beans have been reused countless times over the decades. They’re at least thirty years old, if not older. I just store them in a tin until I need them again. Follow the instructions in the recipe below.
Place dollops of the mascarpone filling atop the pumpkin, then swirl them in using a knife, or chopstick. Since I was using some pumpkin I had leftover from another recipe, I had only about 1 1/2 cups and it really didn’t fill the crust as high as I would have liked. Try to use about 2 cups of pumpkin, which is what you’ll get from a 15 ounce can.
I have to say that this was really one of the best pumpkin pies I’ve ever eaten, and I don’t know if it was because of using the cheese pumpkin, the addition of mascarpone, the mixture of spices, the perfectly baked crust or a combination of all of them. I do know that I’ll be making this again and I won’t wait for next Thanksgiving to do so. I hope you try it too. Don’t forget to add the whipped cream on top!
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- 1–9″ pie crust, homemade or purchased, blind baked (see instructions below)
- 1 cup (8 ounces; 227 grams) mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (This turned the mascarpone a beige color, so I might eliminate it next time and just add the vanilla to the pumpkin instead.)
- ½ cup packed (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 1–½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
- Pinch cloves
- 1 (15 ounce) can 100% pumpkin puree (I used 1 1/2 cups of freshly cooked and drained pumpkin but 2 cups would have been better)
- heavy cream for whipping and decorating the top of pie
- TO ROLL AND BLIND BAKE THE PIE CRUST:
- Roll out the pie dough to an 11″ circle and line a 9” pie plate, crimping the edges as desired.
- Prick the bottom of the dough all over with a fork to let steam escape during baking. Place the pie in the freezer for 30 minutes to let the pie dough chill.
- While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Remove the pie from freezer and line the pie dough with a parchment round piece of paper (or aluminum foil that is greased on the side that touches the pie dough) and then add pie weights (or dry rice or beans or lentils) to fill the pie shell, making sure to push pie weights to the edges.
- Bake for 20 minutes on the lower rack, then remove from oven and remove the parchment and pie weights.
- Return to oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Set aside until ready to use. Lower the oven to 325ºF.
- ASSEMBLE THE FILLING:
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the mascarpone and the sugar, until smooth.
- Add in 1 egg and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop out ½ cup of the mascarpone mixture and set aside.
- Then, add to the mascarpone mixture the remaining eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pumpkin puree.
- Beat together until fully combined.
- Add half of the pumpkin filling to the fully baked pie crust.
- Spoon in a few dollops of the set aside mascarpone filling to the pumpkin mixture.
- Then, pour the remaining pumpkin mixture over the top. Spoon drops of the remaining mascarpone mixture.
- Using a knife, chopstick or toothpick gently swirl through all layers of the pumpkin filling to achieve a marble effect.
- TO BAKE:
- Bake the pie on the middle rack for 45-55 minutes, or until the pie reaches a temperature of 180ºF and the outer edges have started to puff up but the center is still slightly wobbly.
- Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature before placing in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to finish firming up.
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