Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie

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My pumpkin obsession goes on! Can you improve on the traditional pumpkin pie? That's debatable. I really love your basic pumpkin pie so I'm always sceptical of new pumpkin pie recipes.


When this month's Bon Appetit arrived, it was full of all kinds of Thanksgiving recipes. One of them was for Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie. I saw the pie but didn't pay much attention to the recipe. Hubs picked up the Bon Appetit a couple days later as he was asking what we were having for dinner (at around 2:00 pm!). I said I wasn't sure. So he let the Bon Appetit fall open and pointed to the page and said "Make this". This happens a lot at our house. He thinks it's funny. Luckily for him, I'm still just happy he's home after being deployed for nearly a year.
Anyway he landed on the dessert recipes. By the way pumpkin pie is a favorite of his as well. So when he saw the picture for Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie, he said I had to make this sometime. He pointed out that the recipe called for Scotch. This made the recipe all the more interesting to him! I had made Dori Greenspan's Real Butterscotch Pudding while he was deployed, and it was fantastic. I promised to make this pie sometime, although not right then and not for dinner!
We had a few friends over for dinner this past week-end, and I made the pie for dessert. Everyone raved! It's a bit more involved to make than your average pumpkin pie, so plan ahead.






Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie

Crust:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Filling:
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Scotch
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Whipped cream:
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Scotch

Preparation
For crust:Mix flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, process until very coarse meal forms. Add 3 tablespoons ice water; using on/off turns, process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if too dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap and chill 1 hour.
Roll out dough to 12-to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold edges under and crimp decoratively. Chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line crust with sheet of foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil with beans. Bake until just beginning to turn golden brown, piercing with fork if bubbles form, about 15 minutes longer. Cool completely.

For filling:Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter, and salt in medium saucepan; bring to boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil until deep brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add Scotch, then cream (mixture will bubble vigorously) and whisk until smooth. Return to medium heat and stir until most caramel bits dissolve. Strain butterscotch mixture into small bowl. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Whisk remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and pumpkin in large bowl. Whisk in eggs, then spices. Add reserved butterscotch mixture; whisk to blend.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk before using.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour filling into crust. Bake until just set, about 50 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Store at room temperature.
For whipped cream:Using electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, and Scotch in medium bowl until peaks form.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk if necessary before serving.
Cut pie into wedges. Serve with dollop of whipped cream

Our table for our dinner party (a late birthday celebration for Hubs) turned out so pretty I just had to share a couple pictures!

Pumpkin and spice

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That's what pumpkin pie is made of... Yeah it's that time of year. I know the change of season is nice for many reasons but I get excited about change of foods. Sure you can have pumpkin pie any time nowadays, but to me it's the quintessential right of passage to the fall season. The color, the scent of cinnamon and ginger, it all just screams FALL! I crave that first bite of pumpkin pie, ideally to be savored while looking out the window at the changing leaves while drinking a hot cup of coffee. A slightly silly thing to become excited about but oh well, that's what does it for me:) (nerdy I know)
Over the years I've tried several different pumpkin pie recipes, but I always come back the the one on the back of the Libby can for Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie. In my opinion it's the perfect pumpkin pie recipe. I like the balance of the spices and how smooth and silky the pie's texture is when baked. With a few of the recipes that I've tried I was disappointed with the texture of the pie. I've had a few that were slightly grainy. I've never had that happen with this recipe. The only modification I make is I add about 1/2 cup of half and half to the recipe for 2 pies. I think that the pie is just a little more silky with the addition of half and half. I've also recently discovered cinnamon whipped cream. YUM!! It's wonderful with this pie and super simple.
1 cup of whipping cream
1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar (you can use regular sugar if you like)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Whip cream until slightly thick, slowly add the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Whip until cream holds soft peaks. Dollop liberally on pie!