Crème Brûlée Pumpkin Pie
At first I was hesitant about sharing a pumpkin pie recipe AFTER Thanksgiving, but then my inner Marie Antoinette took over and I thought, “what the hell - it’s 2020, let’s be as basic as we want as long as we want - let them eat pie!” and now, here we are.
I, like most white women, have a predisposition for anything pumpkin. I spend way too much money on pumpkins for my porch every year, I love a pumpkin spice anything (except the latte from Starbucks - I’m the snob that only likes craft coffee that uses real pumpkin for their lattes, again, blame my inner Marie), and I can’t imagine a Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie.
But here’s the rub: pumpkin pie - I’m talking classic Libby’s version - if we’re being brutally honest, isn’t that great. The all-butter pie crust doesn’t add much to the pie, the filling itself can be a bit (as Prue and Paul would say) “stodgy” and the flavor is either underwhelming or hiding under too much added cinnamon.
My mother has felt this way about pumpkin pie since the dawn of time, and she always makes a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust instead of the “stodgy” classic - because let’s face it, pumpkin cheesecake is better EVERY time. When I asked what recipes everyone on Instagram wanted me to develop for Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie was number one in responses and so I wanted to take on the challenge of pumpkin pie. To create a version that could stand on its own two feet and actually be a dessert everyone looks forward to not just because it’s tradition, but because it’s so delightfully delicious.
My first thought immediately went to: crème brûlée. I wanted to create a beautifully creamy and custardy interior that kicked the original pumpkin pie’s ass. So I played with the idea of creating a pumpkin crème anglaise for the filling, and then was inspired by Petra Paredez’s version of pumpkin pie (found in her book “Pie for Everyone”) that cooks the pumpkin - skin on - in cream (instead of using canned or roasted and peeling a gourd).
After a couple attempts, I found the perfect rich and creamy filling I wanted, I knew I wanted to brûlée the top, so all that was left to sort out was the crust. My butter crusts weren’t cooperating for me (they were consistently hit or miss) and even when they baked right, I didn’t love how it all tasted together. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE all butter flakey pie dough, but I think it’s best used with a fruit pie or chicken pot pie - something where the pastry is a huge component to the dessert as a whole. With pumpkin, it just always tastes like it takes an afterthought. So I took a leaf out of my mom’s book and opted for a gingersnap crust.
I think half my recipes on here feature brown butter in some shape or form, so you know I had to brown the butter for the crust! It just adds that really beautiful nuttiness that marries with gingersnaps so well and I can’t resist a prime brown butter opportunity!
And then, it was born. The perfect, actually really really really good, pumpkin pie. A Crème Brûlée Pumpkin Pie with a Brown Butter Gingersnap Crust. The buttery spiced gingersnap crust, the creamy pumpkin interior, and the crunchy caramelized brûléed shell on top - it checks EVERY box for flavor and texture. It’s great on its own, great with a little whipped cream on top - there’s no bad way to eat this excellent rendition of pumpkin pie!
Crème Brûlée Pumpkin Pie with a Brown Butter Gingersnap Crust
Obviously, this pie is a TREAT to make! Every delicious flavor of fall and winter are baked into this holiday-famous dessert! Pumpkin, ginger, cream - OH MY! So, here’s what you’re gunna need:
A pumpkin or other winter squash (yup, a real one!)
Gingersnap cookies (I like the Triple Ginger ones from Trader Joe’s - extra bits of ginger is always a win in my book!)
Heavy cream
Butter
Ginger root
Eggs
Sugar (white and brown)
Molasses
Vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
Kosher salt
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Cardamom
A kitchen torch
Let’s talk about some of the ingredients and their substitutions:
Using a Real Fresh Pumpkin for Pumpkin Pie
What is the best pumpkin to use for pumpkin pie?
So all pumpkins are edible, but not every pumpkin is made equal. Some have unpleasant textures and can be watery in flavor. These are a few of the pumpkins I recommend baking with:
Sweet Meat - it’s green on the outside and has a lovely bright orange flesh that has a rich and sweet flavor, hence the name!
Cinderella - an heirloom variety that are bright orange and kind of squatty looking pumpkins. Very sweet, low in water, and no stringy texture!
Dickinson - this is the pumpkin of Libby fame! Full of sweet wonderful flesh but the exterior is different because its skin is more of a neutral beige color.
Musquee de Provence - an heirloom variety that goes from green to brown on the outside as they grow and ripen, and they have a stunning vibrant orange color to their flesh.
Baby Pam - smaller in size with a dark orange skin thick stems and often sought after for pie baking!
Small Sugar: this is the classic pie pumpkin you’ll see in grocery stores every year. It’s a obviously good for pie, though it does have a more delicate flavor so I recommend seeking out one of the options above before settling for this one.
Where do I find heirloom pumpkins for baking?
Farmer’s market! My local farmer’s market has multiple farmers with excellent pumpkin/gourd/squash varieties! If their pumpkins aren’t labelled or you’re not sure which one you should bake with, just ask the farmer! They’ll steer you in the right direction!
Grocery stores don’t often carry heirloom varieties, but they are starting to become more available since more people like to decorate with them. So you can always check there if you don’t have a farmer’s market close by. Often times speciality grocery stores, like Whole Foods, New Seasons, Trader Joes - any more local or health-food-type of store - often gets some heirlooms every year.
Can I use squash instead of pumpkin?
Absolutely! Often times (especially if the only pumpkin you can find is a Small Sugar), squash can have a better flavor in this pie than actual pumpkin! Some squash options you can use in place of pumpkin are: butternut, honeynut, kabocha, Georgia Candy Roaster - basically any winter squash with a sweet flesh that doesn’t have a stringy texture.
Gingersnap Cookies for Pie Crust
Where do I find gingersnap cookies?
Any grocery store should have them! They’re super easy to find and a staple for any store. My favorite gingersnap to use for pie crust, is the Triple Ginger Gingersnap Cookies from Trader Joes. They pack a punch and have little bits of actual ginger in them which lends beautiful flavor when they’re transformed into a crust.
Can I use graham crackers instead of gingersnaps?
Sure! I prefer the gingersnaps because of their spicy depth of flavor, but if you don’t like them or you happen to have graham crackers in your pantry - by all means, use graham crackers instead!
Can I use gluten-free gingersnaps?
Yes! Gluten-free gingersnaps will work just as well as normal gingersnaps in this recipe.
How to Make this Crème Brûlée Pumpkin Pie with a Brown Butter Gingersnap Crust Recipe:
Crush the gingersnap cookies. Place cookies in a food processor and blend until you get fine even crumbs for the crust.
Brown the butter. Place the stick of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once completely melted, watch for the fat to start and brown on the bottom of the pan. Whisk frequently once browning starts, and continue to cook over heat until a deep golden color. Then remove from heat immediately.
Make the Brown Butter Gingersnap Crust. Combine the cookie crumbs, browned butter, brown sugar, and kosher salt in a medium bowl. Using a fork, mix together until all the cookie crumbs become moist and evenly saturated. Press into your pie dish, bake, and cool.
Prepare the pumpkin. Pumpkins and squash can be hard to cut, so use a big and sharp knife. I recommend putting a damp paper towel under the cutting board so it doesn’t slip when you begin to wrestle the gourd. Scoop out seeds and cut into 2 to 3 inch cubes. If the skin is orange, pink, red, or brown, you can leave the skin on, just cut away imperfections. If it’s green, I would peel it off. Since the pumpkin cooks in heavy cream, the skin actually becomes tender enough to eat and deepens the color of the filling (though the green-skinned pumpkins can mess with the color, so best to cut it off).
Cut and score ginger root. Cut the pieces in ginger lengthwise, and then score the flesh side of each piece with a criss-cross pattern. No need to peel ginger. Since the ginger is only lending flavor while the cream and pumpkin steeps, the scoring will help get the most bang for your buck.
Cook pumpkin. Add cream, pumpkin, scored ginger, and vanilla bean paste (or extract) to a large saucepan over medium heat. Once it begins to simmer and gently boil, turn the heat down and continue to cook it on a soft simmer until the pumpkin is very tender. Once pumpkin is cooked, remove the big pieces of ginger and throw them away. Then transfer pumpkin and vanilla cream to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
Make the custard, tempering cream and eggs. Whisk together your egg yolks and sugar until it becomes a very light pale yellow color. Then, very very slowly, begin to temper the hot pumpkin cream mixture throw a fine mesh strainer, into the eggs and sugar. Whisk like a mad woman as you SLOWLY pour the cream into the yolks. Only start with a tiny bit at first so the temperature of the custard can adjust and rise without making scrambled eggs (yuck). Once you’ve added a quarter or third of the hot pumpkin cream mix, you can begin to pour more heavily as you whisk. Once fully combined, you’ll add your spices and molasses and then pour it into the crust!
Time to bake. I like to position my oven rack to the lower third of the oven, then place pie gently on rack. Cook until the sides are set but the center is still jiggly. Once done, cool at room temperature until just warm, then cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.
Let’s brûlée. When you’re ready to serve the chilled pie, then it’s time for the final touch! A beautiful caramelized crunchy brûlée top! Scatter a relatively generous amount of sugar on top - enough so that you don’t see any pumpkin filling peeping through - and then make sure your torch is gassed up! Fire away! Melt the sugar evenly on top and then let it cool for a couple minutes until it hardens.
Crack and serve. Crack that perfect sugar armor on top of your pie, serve up pieces, and if you’re feeling especially naughty, get whipped cream involved!
Crème Brûlée Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 cups crushed ginger snap cookies
- 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 ½ cups chopped pumpkin or winter squash
- 2 4-inch pieces of ginger root, cut lengthwise and scored
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- 2 teaspoons molasses
- Sugar for brûlée
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, brown the butter. Once it completely melts, wait for the fat to begin to turn golden on the bottom of the pan, once it begins, whisk continually until you get a deep golden color then immediately remove from heat.
- Mix together browned butter and all remaining ingredients for crust (crushed gingersnaps through salt) in a medium bowl. Make sure all the gingersnap crumbs get evenly saturated.
- Press gingersnap mixture into a 9” pie dish and bake for 10 minutes. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool while you make the filling.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, pumpkin, ginger root, and vanilla. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Once it begins to simmer, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until pumpkin is fork tender.
- Remove pieces of ginger from the pumpkin and cream and discard. Then transfer pumpkin and cream to a blender. Blend until smooth.
- In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar. Whisk until it becomes a light yellow color. Then slowly temper in the pumpkin cream mixture while whisking as you go. When tempering, it’s important to start slow and whisk constantly so you don’t cook the eggs.
- Then whisk in spices (salt through cardamom) and molasses. Once completely blended, pour through a fine mesh strainer into the prepared Brown Butter Gingersnap Crust.
- Place in the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until sides are set and center is still slightly jiggly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 hours or overnight.
- When serving, remove plastic wrap and sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on top of the chilled pie, just enough so you can’t see the filling.
- Using a kitchen torch, caramelize all the sugar on top until it’s all melted. Allow it to cool for a couple minutes until it hardens, then crack and serve (whipped cream optional, but never a bad idea).
