Brandied Pumpkin and Chestnut Pie

- Total Time
- 2 hours 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1small sugar pumpkin or medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch chunks; or 1 cup canned pumpkin purée
- 6tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1¼cups heavy cream
- 3eggs
- ½cup light brown sugar
- 3tablespoons good brandy, such as Cognac
- 1½teaspoons ground ginger
- 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon salt
- ¼teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Pinch ground cloves
- ¾cup sweetened chestnut paste (such as crème de marrons)
- 1pre-baked 9-inch pie crust (see recipe)
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, toss pumpkin with butter and granulated sugar. Arrange on a baking sheet. Roast, tossing occasionally, until caramelized and very soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool (this can be done up to 5 days ahead).
- Step 2
Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Purée pumpkin in a food processor or blender. In a bowl, combine 1 cup purée with 1 cup cream. Save any leftover purée for another use: it freezes well. Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, brandy, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves. Stir in pumpkin mixture.
- Step 3
In a separate bowl, combine chestnut paste with remaining ¼ cup cream. Spread chestnut mixture in pie crust. Top with pumpkin filling.
- Step 4
Transfer pie to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until pie is firm to the touch but jiggles slightly when moved, about 1 hour. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.
Private Notes
Comments
I've made this pumpkin pie every year since the recipe was published. This year, for the first time, I couldn't find canned creme de marrons in the usual store. I had no time to search, so I made my own using pre-cooked chestnuts and an online recipe. (There are many.) It was fast, easy, less sweet than the canned version, and tasted much more like chestnuts. A definite improvement.
Freezing generally isn't a good idea with custard pies (like this one) because the custard will weep and both the filling and crust texture will suffer. Pie shells freeze well, and so does squash puree. How about freezing the pie shell and freezing the seasoned filling (with everything BUT the eggs) uncooked and then defrosting and combining (plus the eggs) when you need pie?
If using canned pumpkin purée, do you still mix with the butter and sugar? Thanks you!
Not worth the effort. I liked the filling, but couldn't taste the chestnuts.
This was delightful! I made my own chestnut butter using packaged chestnuts, water and simple syrup. Because I was short on cream, I used milk in step 3. When it came out of the oven the bottom side of the crust was dens and soggy. I first thought that the heat was too low, as I've never cooked a pie at 300 degrees. But, realized it might have been the milk.
Reading the others notes I made the chestnut paste. Its is fabulous and has many uses. That said, my homemade version over powered the pumpkin so I would try the pre-made chestnut paste if I were to bake this again.
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