makes one 9-inch deep dish pie
One single Dorie’s Perfect Pie Crust (just halve the recipe)
1/2 cup caramel sauce
3 large eggs, beaten
15-ounces fresh or canned pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
5-ounce can evaporated milk
5 ounces heavy cream
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated natural cane sugar
1 cup chopped, very lightly toasted pecans
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Fit unbaked piecrust into a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Spread caramel sauce evenly over bottom; set aside.
Heat spices in small skillet over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Add 2 eggs, pumpkin puree, warmed spices, evaporated milk, cream and sugar to a medium bowl. Whisk together until well combined. Pour into piecrust over caramel layer. Evenly sprinkle chopped pecans on top, gently pressing them into the filling. Brush edges of crust with some of the remaining beaten egg (store the rest in the fridge if you plan on making more pies this week). Bake at 425ºF for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature 350ºF and bake for another 45 minutes, until the center is set (will look firm and not jiggly—no it’s not a real cooking term, but you get the point, right?). Let cool completely before serving.
I’m tempted to up the caramel sauce to 1 cup next time I make this. Also, don’t toast the pecans too much since they will cook during the baking process. I used the empty evaporated milk can to measure out the cream since it was 5 ounces anyway. And if you’re a vegetarian, or the mere thought of rendered leaf lard sends you running for the hills, feel free to sub shortening or use all butter for your pie crust.
Update 11/26/2012: A few readers were confused about the 3 eggs. As indicated in the recipe, 2 are used in the filling and the third egg is used to brush the pie crust edges. Also, there is 3/4 cup sugar in the recipe. When I redesigned the blog a couple of months ago, the ingredients may not have formatted properly. Sorry for any confusion!