Pastry Maple Leaves for decoration
The maple in this recipe is very subtle; the seasoning, and heavy custard, pretty much overpowers it. If you want a more distinctly maple flavor, use one of the following two. You may also find that this is not sweet enough; to sweeten it more, incorporate up to 1/2 cup sugar with the eggs. All in all, this is pretty close to traditional pumpkin pie flavor, with a hint of maple.
Maple Pumpkin Pie 2
1 9 inch deep-dish or up to 11 inch but shallower regular pie crust
Pastry Maple Leaves for decoration
The maple flavor in this much richer than that of the previous recipe. We use a combination of maple syrup and maple sugar to provide give us the maple intensity we want; maple syrup alone is more delicate, and maple sugar has a heavy richness (like brown sugar), which we don't want to overpower other flavors. You can vary the proportions of maple syrup and maple sugar, remembering that when increasing the syrup, decrease the amount of pumpkin, and the amount of maple sugar, by the same amounts.
Maple Pumpkin Pie 3
1 9 inch deep-dish or up to 11 inch but shallower regular pie crust
Pastry Maple Leaves for decoration
This variation lightens up the previous version just a bit; we still use some cream, and keep all the eggs. That quarter-cup of plain sugar is optional; with it, this pie will be pretty sweet; without it, it will still be sweeter than the first Maple Pumpkin Pie recipe given above. Our test panel prefers this variation.
Directions
Prepare pie crust. We recommend freshly baked regular pie crust, in a pyrex pie dish, at 400 degrees. (See notes below.)
Heat pumpkin puree in a heavy pan; stir frequently.
Add milk and cream to pumpkin puree, continue heating gently and stir until smooth. Keep it hot but don't let it boil.
In a heatproof bowl, beat eggs (and sugar or maple sugar) until smooth.
Beat in dry spices
For Maple Pumpkin Pie, beat in flour, then maple syrup.
When the pie crust is baked, beat the egg mixture while pouring the hot pumpkin mixture into it in a thin stream. The resulting mixture will be hot but not so hot as to cook the eggs.
Carefully pour hot pumpkin filling into hot pie crust; return to center of oven and bake at 400°.
We fill the pie partway out of the oven, then top it off with a cup or ladle with the pie positioned in the oven, as the slightest sticking of the oven rack is liable to cause filling to slosh all over.
For Ginger Pumpkin Pie, carefully sprinkle the candied ginger evenly over the pie filling. It will settle gently to the bottom forming a loosely packed layer.
The pie is done when the outside edge of the filling is firm and slightly puffed, but the center is still jiggly. Remove to a rack and let cool gently, so the custard can first finish cooking, and then set.
