An award-winning pumpkin pie from the 2005 National Pie Championships featuring canned pumpkin, spices, milk and cream.
Let me clear up something first. I did not win an award for this pie. A woman named Sarah Spaugh from Winston-Salem, NC won 3rd place for this recipe in the 2005 National Pie Championships amateur division. Pretty impressive, huh? I figured that if this pie won an award, then it had to be pretty special.
I am baffled that I haven’t made a pumpkin pie here on Eva Bakes before. I’ve made pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin s’mores bars, pumpkin spice beer bread, pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin pie snickerdoodle bars, but not pumpkin pie. Time to remedy that.
The timing was perfect to bake a pumpkin pie. My husband was traveling for work one week and forwarded me a weekly ad from a local grocery store. The featured item in the email advertisement was a freshly baked pumpkin pie. I replied back and said that I could make him one, so I went to find a recipe to try.
I remembered that I had the America’s Best Harvest Pies cookbook and decided to flip through it since all the recipes in the book had won awards. While the most popular recipes on the internet seemed promising, I wanted something slightly different than your ho-hum pumpkin pie. I came across Sarah’s recipe and knew that it was something I needed to bake.
I had a leftover crust from Aunt Jo’s pecan pie in the freezer and used it for this recipe. Foolishly, I accidentally omitted the maple syrup from the filling but still enjoyed the pie immensely.
Award-winning pumpkin pie
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust
- 3 large eggs
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup do not use imitation maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup light cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Roll out your pie crust, set it in the pie pan and crimp the edges. Put it in the refrigerator while you make the filling.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin puree and mix well. Then add the sugars and mix until well incorporated. Add the maple syrup, allspice, cinnamon and cloves and mix. Gently stir in the milk and cream and mix until the filling is smooth and even.
- Pour the filling into your (unbaked) pie crust and bake in your preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the center is set. Allow the pie to cool before serving. If desired, serve with dollops of whipped cream or ice cream.