What pie would be better to make as we approach Thanksgiving, than a classic homemade pumpkin pie?! Nothing quite beats a well executed pumpkin pie, and we were able to do just that. Of course, we used Marguerite’s perfect pie crust to go with this timeless pie.
Here’s what Marguerite had to say:
As you can see, this recipe is titled Mother’s pumpkin pie. That would be Marguerite’s mother, or Aaron’s great grandmother, Allen. One of the best stories from Aaron’s mom regarding this pumpkin pie recipe is that she remembers Marguerite pouring the milk for this recipe straight out of a glass bottle (that was delivered by an honest to goodness Milkman!) As usual, Marguerite didn’t give us too much direction.
For as short as the ingredient list is, we should have had an easier time. The pie you see in these pictures may or may not be the third one we made (don’t ask.) But in our first failed attempts, we learned things to improve our process. On our first try, we just added all the ingredients together without any real order, rhyme, or reason. The successful change we made was to mix the dry ingredients into the pumpkin thoroughly first. Then we beat the eggs well and add them, followed by the milk. The baking step was also a bit tricky for us, but in the end the pie came out of the oven looking just fine.
Now, on to taste. Mercedes gave us the insight that those who tried Marguerite’s pumpkin pie liked it for its more mild pumpkin flavor, which Aaron also noted. Marguerite attributed this milder flavor to the higher concentration of eggs and milk versus pumpkin. Aaron liked this pumpkin pie well enough, although pumpkin is a little farther down his list of favorite pie flavors than others. I care not for pumpkin, and the small bite I sampled was not appealing to me. The crust, I could eat all day though.
So where could we take this pumpkin pie to find willing taste testers? That’s right, Aaron’s co-workers. They all enjoyed it, and Aaron’s pretty sure they weren’t just being polite! One of them, who claimed to like pumpkin pie even more than any cake, ate a quarter of it in one sitting! We hope if you try Marguerite’s pumpkin pie this fall that you like it as much as Aaron’s work pals.
- Blend flour and salt in large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture using pasty blender or fork. Stir in just enough water with fork until dough holds together.
- TIP Test dough for proper moistness by squeezing a marble-sized ball of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, do not any additional water. If the dough crumbles, add more water by the tablespoonful, until dough is moist enough to form a smooth ball when pressed together.
- Shape dough into a ball. Flatten ball into a 1/2 inch round disk.
- Chill for 30 minutes or up to two days.
- Roll dough from center outward into a circle 2 inches wider than pie plate on lightly floured surface. Transfer dough to pie plate.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Mix pumpkin, salt, nutmeg, and sugar well.
- Beat eggs well, and add to pumpkin. Mix together well.
- Slowly add milk, mixing ingredients together well.
- Pour into shell.
- Cook in oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 and cook until a knife inserted in the pumpkin comes out dry, around 40-50 minutes.
