Pumpkin Pie

Method

1. 1Pulse the flour (about 1½ cups) and salt in a food processor, or whisk them in a bowl. Add the cold butter cubes (115g, about 1 stick) and cut it in with the processor or your fingertips until the biggest pieces are pea-sized and the mixture looks like coarse sand — those butter flecks are what turn into flaky layers in the oven, so do not rub them in completely. Drizzle in the ice water one tablespoon at a time (about 45ml/3 tbsp total), pulsing or folding just until the dough clumps together when pressed; it should not form a smooth ball. Flatten it into a disc, wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
2. 2Roll the chilled dough on a floured surface into a 30cm circle, about 3mm thick, and ease it into a 23cm (9-inch) pie dish without stretching. Trim the overhang to 2cm, fold it under itself and crimp the edge, then chill the shaped shell for 15 minutes while the oven heats to 200°C. Line the shell with parchment paper, fill it right to the rim with pie weights or dried beans, and bake for 15 minutes. Lift out the parchment and weights and bake the empty crust for 5 more minutes, until the base looks dry and pale gold rather than translucent — this is what keeps the bottom from turning soggy once the wet filling goes in.
3. 3For homemade purée, halve a 1.5-2kg Hokkaido pumpkin or butternut squash lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and roast cut-side down on a lined tray at 200°C for 45-60 minutes, until a knife slides into the thickest part with no resistance. Scoop the flesh from the skin, purée it smooth, then tip it into a fine sieve lined with a tea towel and let it drain for 20-30 minutes, pressing gently. Homemade purée holds noticeably more water than canned, and a filling made from undrained purée will stay loose and never fully set. If using canned pumpkin, measure 425g of plain purée, not pre-spiced pumpkin pie filling, and skip this step entirely.
4. 4Heat the oven to 220°C. In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin purée with the eggs, evaporated milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt until smooth and streak-free. Whisk by hand rather than with a mixer: beating in extra air makes the custard puff up in the oven and then collapse and crack as it cools.
5. 5Pour the filling into the warm crust and place the pie on the middle rack. Bake at 220°C for 15 minutes, then, without opening the door for longer than it takes to check, lower the heat to 175°C and continue baking for 40-50 minutes more. The initial blast of heat sets the outer ring of custard quickly, the way a professional oven does at the start, so the crust never sits soaking in raw filling for long.
6. 6Start checking at the 40-minute mark: the filling is done when the outer 5cm is fully set and only a circle about 7-8cm across in the center still jiggles slightly when the dish is nudged, like set jelly rather than liquid. An instant-read thermometer inserted in the center should read around 80°C. Pulling the pie while that center still trembles is deliberate — pumpkin custard keeps cooking from residual heat, and the single biggest cause of a deep crack down the middle is leaving it in until the whole surface looks still, which means the eggs have already overcooked and started to weep.
7. 7Turn off the oven, prop the door open with a wooden spoon, and let the pie sit inside for 10 minutes before moving it to a wire rack. Cool at room temperature for at least 2 hours, then refrigerate for another hour before slicing; a pie cut warm collapses into wedges instead of clean slices. Serve chilled or at room temperature with lightly whipped, barely sweetened cream.