Eggnog Pumpkin Pie

During this time of year, I am thankful for pumpkin pie...and eggnog. While in the thick of making pumpkin pie this past weekend for a Friendsgiving event, I realized that I was out of half-and-half. When I opened my refrigerator in search of a dairy substitute, my gaze fell upon a half full carton of Organic Valley eggnog* and I decided to take a chance. (Interesting side note: there were 1 and 1/3 cups of eggnog left in the carton – the exact amount that I needed. They don't call me the Intuitive Baker for nothing.) I'm happy to report that the pie turned out great and I would make it this way again. What happy baking accidents are you thankful for?

* My favorite brand of eggnog is Organic Valley but as a disclaimer, they did not compensate me in any way to say that.

Pie Crust Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter

1 ¼ cups flour

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vodka*

3-4 tablespoons ice water

* As discussed in my Lavender Custard Pie post http://theintuitivebaker.blogspot.com/2013/10/lavender-custard-pie.html, adding vodka yields a more tender pie crust.

Cut the butter into 8 pieces and put in the freezer. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until the pieces are slightly larger than peas. Sprinkle the vodka and 3 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture, then squeeze handfuls of dough until it begins to form clumps. If it seems to dry, add 1 more tablespoon of ice water. Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and use the heel of your hand to smear the dough away from you in sections. Turn the parchment paper 180 degrees and continue smearing the dough. Turn and repeat several times until the crumbs just hold together. Shape the dough into a 6-inch disk and smooth the edges. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

If you froze your pie crust dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. If you chilled your dough, remove it from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, approximately 20 minutes. Butter a 9-inch glass pie plate and set aside. Lightly flour a large piece of parchment paper, place the dough in the center, and cover with another piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin into a 13-inch circle that is approximately 1/8 inch thick. Rotate the parchment paper 90 degrees after every few passes with the rolling pin to evenly smooth out all areas of the dough. Peel away the top piece of parchment paper (set aside for later use) and transfer the dough to the pie plate. Roll any overhanging crust under itself to shape a crust that rests on the rim of the pie plate. Use your fingers or a fork to crimp the edges. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and chill the crust in the refrigerator while the oven preheats.

Crumple the reserved piece of parchment paper from earlier into a ball and then smooth it out a bit. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and put the parchment paper into it with the side that touched the crust earlier, touching the crust again now. Pour dried beans or pie weights onto the clean parchment paper and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven, remove the parchment paper and pie weights, then return the crust to the oven to bake for another 8 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack while you make the filling and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Filling Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups pumpkin purée or 1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin purée

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¾ teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

pinch of salt

1 1/3 cups eggnog**

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, at room temperature

** If you don't want to use eggnog, you can substitute half-and-half and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg.

In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, clove, and salt. Whisk in the eggnog and vanilla, then whisk in the eggs until just blended. Pour the filling into the baked crust and bake for 50 minutes, until the filling jiggles a bit when the pie plate is nudged. Set the pie on a trivet or on an oven mitt inside the refrigerator so that it can chill before serving.

Source: This recipe was modified from http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/classic-pumpkin-pie.aspx