By “classic pumpkin pie, ” I mean pumpkin pie spiked with rum, obviously. You know me. By classic I mean Brûléed Classic Pumpkin Pie. I love lil’ twists.
This whole week I’ve spent under the covers with the sickness. Amelia thinks sneezes are the most terrifying thing in the world. Whenever I dramatically sneeze, she flinches, bracing for the worst. She’s a weirdo. Luckily (for me and her), the sickness has almost run its course.
One of the many downsides of being sick is the loss of taste. I literally can taste nothing. Everything tastes flat, bland, the same. Except this pie. I tasted every little sweet and spicy note and looooved it. At its base, it’s a classic, awesome pumpkin pie. Not too eggy. I have serious issues with super eggy pumpkin pie. It’s sweet but obviously not too sweet. And the spices! Hello. Perfect amount, I think.
How to Make Brûléed Classic Pumpkin Pie!
This recipe isn’t that far of a cry from other pumpkin pie recipes. Here are the steps:
– Make your pie crust. You can obviously use a store-bought pie crust if you’re looking for a bit of a shortcut!
– Par-bake your crust! I personally can’t stand par-baking but I make the exception for pumpkin pie.
– In a large bowl, whisk together the filling ingredients. There is pumpkin puree, spices, a bit of rum, salt and eggs. This is a balanced flavored filling.
– Add the filling to the par-baked pie crust and bake!
– When it’s done baking, you want to chill the pie crust for about 1 hour before you transfer it to the fridge.
– You can make this ahead for up to 2 days.
– When you’re ready to serve it, add the sugar to the top of the pie and then brûlée the top with a kitchen torch!
Slice it up and serve!
The brûléed top of this pie is just fun. The torch is dramatic. The shards of sugar glass are delicious and actually offer a nice texture in an otherwise soft and silky smooth custard.
While the rose pie I posted earlier this week and the oat crumble pie were both pretty labor intensive, this is super easy.
The only thing I suggest is to make sure it’s properly chilled. You really want the cold/hot effect–it’s tasty!
Brûléed Classic Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust:
- 1 single sheet of homemade pie crust or store-bought
Filling:
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg beaten, for egg wash
For Topping:
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
To Par Bake the Crust:
Note: I found it unnecessary to par bake this crust, which I have done in the past with pumpkin pie. I tried it both ways: par baked and not par baked. I found it was an unnecessary step, but !one of you made this recipe and experienced some raw dough, which isn't ideal. So, I !recommend you should par bake just to avoid this issue. (The picture above is not par baked.)
- To par bake your crust, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Using the tines of a fork, poke the bottom of the pie crust a all over. Line the crust with a piece of parchment and fill with beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside while the filling is made.
To Make the Filling:
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, 1/2 cup white granulated sugar, light brown sugar, pumpkin, heavy cream, rum, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Mix until very smooth; if there are lumps due to the pumpkin puree, run the mixture through sieve.
- Place your prepared 9-inch pie pan onto a baking sheet (this will help with transferring it in and out of the oven). Pour the pumpkin mixture into your pie crust and brush the edges of the crust with egg wash.
- Carefully transfer the pie to the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, and until the center of the pie is set and it jiggles slightly. Make sure to check on it at the 20 minute-mark. If the pie crust is becoming too dark, place a tent, using foil, around the pie crust. Allow to cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
To Brûlée the Top:
- Right before serving, sprinkle the top of the pumpkin pie with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Using a blow torch, move the flame in small circles over the sugar until it melts and turns a light golden brown color. Serve immediately.
Notes
Equipment
Nutrition
If you make this Brûléed Classic Pumpkin Pie, let me know on Instagram!
is this pie supposed to be eaten cold? it looks really yummy but i’d imagine it would be a bit strange eating it cold vs nice and warm?
I tend to think pumpkin pie can be eaten cold or room temperature. I served this at room temperature.
We made this for Thanksgiving and it was definitely the best pumpkin pie we’ve ever had. We didn’t brulee as we are sans torch, but it was delicious nonetheless. This was the first pie my 18 month old son has ever had and he kept asking for “mo umpkin ie.” He’s been talking about it as he falls asleep each night.
We also made the classic cranberries and they, too, were amazing. I think it was the star anise and vanilla that made it so good.
Thanks for helping make our Thanksgiving yummy and easy!
Awwww that’s sooo awesome. I love that. I made this pumpkin pie again too!
So glad you liked the cranberry sauce, too! I used a quarter of a vanilla bean in mine and was obsessed! xo
I don’t have a torch but love the idea of the bruleed top! do you think I could do it in the broiler? Maybe I cover the crust with tin foil to be sure it doesn’t brown? also, do you have any tips for par baking? I tried to par bake a crust once and found a) that the tin foil melted into the crust and it was an awful mess and b) the crust shrank so much (it was for a tart) and in the end it was basically just the bottom dough with about 1/4″ rim around it. I am using a ceramic pie pan for this, do you think I could skip it?
Hi Ellie, It will not work under the broiler. Unfortunately for any bruleed recipe you definitely will need a torch. The fire has to touch and burn the sugar rapidly in order to create that hard top.
As for par baking, I always start with a frozen crust. I think this helps a lot. I think a ceramic pie pan should work great (I’d just stay away from aluminum). Hope that helps!
Bummer! I made this for my office potluck and the bottom of the crust was raw still! Like soft uncooked dough. I followed the cook times/temperatures exactly and then even cooked for an extra 3 minutes bc the center was still a little too jiggly. Were we supposed to par bake the pie crust?
Man, this bums me out. I tried this recipe both ways: with par baking and not par baking. I found that I didn’t need the par bake and figured why add an extra step. When I didn’t par bake my crust was cooked – but definitely not crispy. Perhaps I should give people the option up above. Sorry the crust didn’t work out. Grr. Oh can I ask what type of pan you were using? Was it glass, ceramic or aluminum?
Traditional with an edge…I like it!!!
Is it weird that I’ve never tried pumpkin pie before? It feels like it is… This one makes me want to though!