Amuse Kitchen's pumpkin pie recipe for real custard

This pumpkin pie recipe leans on two things most home versions skip: draining the pumpkin properly and baking the custard low and slow, so it sets to a clean slice instead of a wet one.

Tinned pie filling works in a pinch, but roasting and draining your own pumpkin gives a drier, denser purée that won't dilute the custard. The spice mix stays close to classic — cinnamon, ginger, clove and fresh nutmeg — because pumpkin itself has little flavour of its own; the spices are doing most of the work.

Ingredients

A pumpkin pie recipe lives or dies on drainage and patience, not on the spice mix.

• 450 g roasted and drained pumpkin purée
• 3 large eggs
• 180 g soft light brown sugar
• 240 ml double cream
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 1 x 23 cm shortcrust pastry case, blind-baked

Method

1. Roast the pumpkin until soft, blend to a purée, then leave it in a sieve for 20 minutes to drain off excess water — skip this and the custard won't set properly.
2. Blind-bake the pastry case with baking beans until golden all over, including the base, so it doesn't turn soggy once the wet filling goes in.
3. Whisk the eggs, sugar, spices and salt together first, until the sugar starts to dissolve, before adding any liquid — this stops the sugar clumping later.
4. Whisk in the pumpkin purée and cream until fully smooth, with no streaks of egg visible.
5. Pour into the warm pastry case and bake at 160°C (fan) for 45–50 minutes, until the edges are set but the centre still holds a slight wobble.
6. Cool completely on a rack for at least two hours before slicing — the custard keeps firming up as it cools, and a warm slice will run.

A spiced finish, and what to pour with it

Skip whipped cream if you want contrast rather than more sweetness: a spoon of crème fraîche cuts through the spice better than sugared cream does. The same restraint applies to drinks — a small pour of bourbon or an amaro alongside does more for the pie than a sweet dessert wine would.

Leftovers keep well chilled for three days; let a slice sit at room temperature for twenty minutes before serving so the custard isn't cold and dense, the way a quince tarte Tatin also benefits from a short rest out of the fridge.