The easiest homemade pumpkin pie recipe for Thanksgiving

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Pumpkin pie means fall season and, for the Americans, Thanksgiving (if you’re looking for the perfect recipe for your turkey click here): it’s a traditional recipe we Europeans don’t know very well. In reality, it’s such a nice pie I’m sure you’ll get addicted to it as it happened to me a few years ago.

Traditionally the recipe includes a crusty base like the one Martha Stewart prepares but I prefer to use a pastry base, the same I use for my Italian chocolate and ricotta tart just to give this pumpkin pie a softer and lighter texture.

I know many people also use canned pumpkin to make this pie but I prefer to make my filling at home and be sure my pie will be as much genuine as possible. The result is a perfect and easy pumpkin pie to be stored for a couple of days or to be served as a dessert during the fall season and, why not? at Christmas, if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.

One of the big secrets of this recipe is that there’s no condensed milk involved: I use cream, not double cream, and beat it light to avoid my filling it’s too fluffy. You can replace the cream with the condensed milk but for sure your pie will be heavier and you need to find a good balance with the other ingredients to really bake a perfect and enjoyable pumpkin pie.

There are many recipes out there to bake a perfect pumpkin pie and mine is surely one of the many and not the original one but trusts me, it works for the best and it’s a real pleasure both making and eating it. Serve it with a cup of homemade pumpkin spice latte and I’m sure you’ll be happy.

Pumpkin Pie Baking Tips

• You can use a store-bought or homemade pie crust (linked HERE) for your recipe. If you only use a small portion of pie crust, freeze the remaining one;
• It may be a good idea to blind baking your pie meaning you have to partially bake your pie crust before adding the filling. In this way, your pay won’t soak;
• Use a pie crust shield to prevent the edges of your pie crust from over-browning.
• To prevent any cracks in your pumpkin pie, make sure not to over bake it;
• Pie crust can be made 2-3 days in advance and store in the fridge;
• The filling can be made up to one day in advance, stored in the fridge as well.