Butter Crust and Pumpkin Pie
As an accomplished pastry chef, Victoria Dearmond is in an unenviable position when it comes to Thanksgiving. “My family hates pumpkin pie,” said the pastry chef for Underbelly Hospitality that includes Georgia James steakhouse. “The only person in my family who likes pumpkin is my mom, and she prefers the frozen kind with Cool Whip.”
That hasn’t stopped Dearmond from creating luscious pumpkin pies for the holidays. Underbelly Hospitality will be selling her pumpkin pies as part of its takeout program this year, albeit with a buckwheat shortbread crust.
Dearmond’s butter and all-purpose flour crust can be used for a variety of pies. She prefers to make her dough by hand instead of with food processor because it gives the home baker more control. The trick to pie crusts is to keep everything cold for as long as possible while combining the butter and flour. You want to see butter chunks; they’re the key to a flaky crust.
ALL-BUTTER PIE CRUST
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, chilled and cut into small
cubes
¾ cup cold ice water
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon distilled vinegar
Instructions: Place flour and salt in a large bowl. Place cold cubed butter into dry ingredients and toss. Using your hands, begin to break up the butter by squeezing between thumb and fingers in a snapping motion. Work quickly. You want the butter pieces to be about the size of a quarter at this point.
Whisk cold water with egg yolk and vinegar in a jar or glass measuring cup. Add about 1⁄ of the water mixture to the
3 flour, tossing and blending. Add more water slowly until the mixture looks like wet sand. You want to see pieces of butter in the dough; you may not need all the water. Continue blending with your hands until the dough can come together and feels slightly tacky to the touch but doesn’t stick to your hands. You may need only about ½ cup of the liquid.
Bring the dough together in a ball and then flatten it out slightly into a thick disk and wrap tightly in plastic. Let it cool in refrigerator at least 4 hours. The dough will continue to absorb the water while resting in refrigerator.
Once dough is chilled, unwrap and place on a floured surface. Flour the top of the disk and begin to roll out dough. You want the dough to be about 2 or 3 inches larger than your pie pan. Once dough is rolled to this size, dust off as much flour as you can and place dough in pie pan, lifting it to press into the pan. Fold the overhang under at the pan lip to create a crust, pinching it to flute. Place in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes while you preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Use pie weights or beans in parchment to weigh down crust and bake for 15 minutes until edges are slightly browned.
If you are making a pie with a baked filling, remove weights or beans; add filling and bake (see below).
Makes 1 9-inch pie crust PUMPKIN PIE FILLING
1 ½ cups solid pack pumpkin purée ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice powder ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
Instructions: In a bowl, mix pumpkin, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add cornstarch and whisk to combine. Add spices and mix. Add evaporated milk half a cup at a time, whisking to combine.
Pour mixture into prepared pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes until filling is set. It will jiggle slightly in the middle. Let cool before cutting.
Note: Chinese Five Spice blend contains star anise, fennel seed, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon. If you don’t have it, substitute ¼ teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice blend.
Makes 1 pie
From Victoria Dearmond, pastry director for Underbelly Hospitality