Recipes Desserts Pies & Tarts Pumpkin Pies Pumpkin–Cream Cheese Pie 3.7 (6) 6 Reviews Scented with bourbon and orange and swirled with cream cheese, this pie is a standout at Thanksgiving or any fall dinner. By Ann Taylor Pittman Ann Taylor Pittman For 20 years, Ann Taylor Pittman built a career of creating healthy recipes at Cooking Light magazine, where she most recently served as Executive Editor. She is the recipient of two James Beard Foundation Awards: a feature writing award for "Mississippi Chinese Lady Goes Home to Korea" and a cookbook award for The New Way to Cook Light. She is now a freelancer specializing in recipe development, writing, and video. Ann lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, their 13-year-old twin boys, one big dog, and one little dog. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on October 15, 2024 Tested by Jasmine Smith Tested by Jasmine Smith Jasmine Smith is a recipe developer and tester at Dotdash Meredith Corporation. In addition to her work in test kitchens, Jasmine is a freelance culinary producer for a variety of food festivals. Meet the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Save Rate PRINT Share Close Photo: Chris Simpson / FOOD STYLING by MARGARET MONROE DICKEY / PROP STYLING by AUDREY DAVIS Active Time: 40 mins Total Time: 6 hrs 25 mins Servings: 8 Jump to recipe Pie doesn’t win any awards unless both the filling and the crust come together in a sublime matchup and the whole thing looks like a million bucks on the dessert table. This boozy pumpkin pie with a cream cheese swirl makes the cut. The crust has classic butter-rich flavor, but the lard makes it extra-flaky. Lard is the key to this unbelievably flaky, non-shrinking, tender piecrust, and you want to make sure to use the right kind — aka one that doesn’t have a pronounced pork taste. Look for leaf lard, or choose a brand that Pittman recommends: Tenderflake. Be careful so as to not overwork the dough, which can lead to a tough crust. Mix the dough until it just comes together, then stop. Keep lard and butter very cold. For ice water, scoop from a bowl of water with lots of ice. For a tender crust, use a light touch. Using a food processor will make you less likely to overwork the dough. This recipe makes enough dough for you to make several pies, or you can save the extra dough in the freezer for the next time you need piecrust (maybe leftover turkey pot pies or a last-minute apple pie). Mixing up the dough in the food processor makes it less likely that you’ll overwork it and make it tough. Orange liqueur and cardamom give the filling a brighter, more perfumed flavor than traditional pumpkin pie, and the swirl of cream cheese filling enriches the whole pie. Frequently Asked Questions What is pumpkin pie filling made of? Traditional pumpkin pie filling is typically made with pure pumpkin puree, heavy cream, eggs, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and spices. If you’re craving the old-fashioned dessert, try our recipe for Classic Pumpkin Pie. How do you keep pumpkin pie from getting soggy? To avoid a soggy bottom crust, you must blind bake the pie shell until it’s golden and slightly crisp before adding the filling and baking. This will allow the dough to get crispy in the oven before you top it off with the rich pumpkin custard. Using a glass pie plate helps — they brown the bottom of the crust a little better. What if the pie crust shrinks? If the crust shrinks, add whipped cream, crumbled cookies, or chopped nuts around the edge of the pie to cover. Or slice the pie and set pieces on individual plates; the imperfection won’t be noticeable that way. Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Place the pie plate on a baking sheet to make it easier to move in and out of the oven. When blind baking, before putting your pie weights in, crumple parchment paper to make it more pliable, then use it to line the dough. Fill the lined crust with pie weights or dried beans so the dough presses against the sides of the dish. Avoid stretching the dough at any stage of the process — stretching leads to shrinkage. If a hole appears after baking the crust, you can patch it with a little bit of pie dough, and bake for another five minutes until the patch just sets. Find leaf lard, a quality, neutral-flavored pig fat, at fatworks.com. While not leaf lard, Tenderflake lard is another neutral tasting, high-quality option. Find it at canadianfoodtousa.com. Make ahead Once the piecrust is cooled, you can store the baked piecrust at room temperature, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap, for up to two days. The dough can be made through step 1 and stored, wrapped well, in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Transfer to a ziplock plastic bag to freeze for up to two months. Cooled pie can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Cook Mode (Keep screen awake) Ingredients Pie Dough 4 cups all-purpose flour (about 17 ounces), plus more for dusting 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter (6 ounces), cut into cubes 3/4 cup cold lard (preferably leaf lard or Tenderflake) (6 ounces), cut into small cubes 2/3 cup ice water, plus more as needed Filling 2 large eggs 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin 1/4 cup orange liqueur (such as dry Curaçao or Grand Marnier) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom 1 cup evaporated milk, divided 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Directions Make the pie dough Process flour and salt in a food processor until combined, 2 to 3 pulses. Scatter butter and lard over top of flour mixture; pulse until fat pieces are the size of peas, 8 to 10 pulses. Drizzle ice water over surface of flour mixture; pulse until dough just starts to come together (do not let dough form a ball), adding additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed. Turn dough out onto a work surface; work dough together using your hands, kneading very lightly just until dough holds together. Divide dough into 3 equal portions (about 11 1/2 oz. each). Pat each dough portion into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Turn 1 dough portion out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll into a 12-inch round, working from middle of dough outward and changing directions of rolling pin each time. Lift dough from work surface after every 2 to 3 rolls, adding a tiny bit more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Arrange dough in a 9-inch pie plate, fitting dough into bottom and up sides of pie plate without stretching. Trim dough to an even thickness around edge of pie plate, trimming edges a bit longer than the pie plate rim. Fold edges under, and finish them as you prefer. You can press the dough with fork tines to create a pattern, or flute by pinching dough around your finger, or crimp the dough, pressing edges lightly to adhere to rim of pie plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in lower third position. Line chilled dough in pie plate with parchment paper, allowing excess to extend slightly over edges. Fill pie plate to the rim with pie weights or dried beans. Bake crust in preheated oven until edges are lightly golden and just set, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove parchment paper and pie weights; continue baking at 400°F until crust is lightly browned on bottom, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool crust completely, about 30 minutes. (Leave oven on.) Make the filling Whisk together eggs, pumpkin, liqueur, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cardamom, 3/4 cup evaporated milk, and 3/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until completely smooth. Place cream cheese in a medium bowl; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup evaporated milk and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar until well combined and smooth, about 30 seconds. Add flour and vanilla, beating until combined, about 15 seconds. Pour pumpkin mixture into piecrust. Dollop cream cheese mixture over top. Gently swirl using a small spoon, scooping and lifting up some of the pumpkin filling to the top to help create a swirl. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. With pie still in oven, reduce oven temperature to 350°F; bake at 350°F until filling is set around the edges but still just a bit jiggly in the middle, 35 to 40 minutes. (Cover crust using aluminum foil if needed to prevent overbrowning.) Remove pie from oven, and cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours. Originally appeared in Food & Wine magazine, November 2024 Rate It Print