Pumpkin Pie with Homemade Crust

I love pumpkin pie! It's one of my very favorite desserts - ever. I wanted to make homemade pie crust this year so I decided to use Ina Garten's pie crust recipe. She makes the best pastries and desserts so I knew her crust would be excellent. It was simple to make and took very little time. This pie turned out amazing. The crust was so flaky and delicious. I rolled the edges a bit thin, so next time I will be careful to make them a bit thicker. I topped the pie with cinnamon whipped cream, which paired perfectly with pumpkin pie. We all loved it, especially my daughter, who couldn't get enough.

Pie Crust:

• 1 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbs white sugar
• 6 tbsp VERY COLD butter, diced into small chunks
• 2 tbsp + 2 tsp VERY COLD shortening
• 3-4 tbsp ICE COLD water

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter pieces and shortening. Pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine pulsing, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Pie Filling:

• 1 15 oz can of Pure pumpkin Puree
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1 can evaporated milk

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and eggs. Mix thoroughly. Slowly stir in the evaporated milk. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork.

Pour filling into the pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately with cinnamon whipped cream or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream:

• 1 pint of whipping cream
• 3-4 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tsp of cinnamon (more if you want a stronger cinnamon flavor)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients with a hand blender for 5-7 minutes until fluffy. Enjoy.

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