A classic pumpkin pie filled with all the flavours of fall baked in a perfectly flaky, buttery crust and topped with pumpkin spice whipped cream.
GUYS…this Butterflies and Braids Pumpkin Pie is my very first pie post!! OK, not exactly, if you count these mini pies, or the brief appearance of these apple pies from pastry school in this post. I'm talking pie proper! With an attempt at a fancy double crust to boot.
Pies and I have a lukewarm relationship, at best. Pies filled with cooked fruit, in particular, simply don't appeal to my palate. However, I love me some pie crust and will gladly eat my way around such filling, when no one is looking. Who am I kidding... I have no issue doing it under watchful eyes. 😳
I grew up with lots of fresh pumpkin-filled dishes - like my grandmother’s best-in-the-universe pumpkin pancakes and her soups to name a couple - oddly, she never made pumpkin pie ( at least not that I can recall - I'll have to check with her...)
I had my first slice of pumpkin pie in my early twenties and although the experience wasn't exactly one that compelled me to drop to my knees and kiss the crust, it was good. It wasn’t until I had a slice of a friend mom’s pie, that I truly appreciated and quite possibly fell in love with pumpkin pie. The flaky, butter-filled crust and the crunchy crumble topping provided the right texture contrast needed for me to truly enjoy the rich, creamy, spice-laden filling.
Apart from meat pies, pecan pie is the only other dessert pie that makes it past my lips. Although, I view it as more a tart, than pie. It's the Dude's favourite pie and it was he who talked me into trying my very first slice earlier in our relationship, after about one hundred attempts. It was his first lesson in 'Jacquee don't break easily'. (yes, yes - grammatically incorrect)
Personally, I find pecan pie way too sweet for even my sweet tooth, so we reserve it for once in a blue moon, or so. Pumpkin pie, however, I try to get a good homemade slice at least once a year around this time.
This Butterflies and Braids Pumpkin Pie was the perfect reward, after a reluctant run with the Dude early Saturday morning. I am so not in running form at the moment and it simply felt like pure torture. To be honest, I wouldn’t exactly call what I did running - the Dude described it as an embarrassing display of heavy breathing, stomping, stumbling and muffled expletives. And yeah, that about sums it up, so... PIE!!
This was my first attempt at a fancy topping - and I'll be the first to admit, it ain't at all fancy. I envisioned the cut-out butterflies in 3-D, wings aflutter, as if taking flight off the pie. They baked up flat, against my efforts. 😩
Also, it turns out that the ability to perfectly braid a head of curly hair does not translate to braiding pastry dough. They were either too tight or loose. It didn't help that I was trying to film my IG Story at the same time.
Finally, I decided I didn't want to wait for it to cool on its own because, you know... photos. So, in order to get it to stay intact while I sliced it for photos, I thew it in the freezer for what was supposed to be only a few minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the white specks of what seemed to be frost, until I was browsing through the photos. OY!
A few things to note:
- COLD butter and under-worked dough = perfectly flaky crust. The very first thing we made in Baking Arts a few years ago, was dough for apple pie. We used all-butter and chilled and grated it - my preference.
- Bake the smaller decorations on a separate tray (that goes for anything, actually). The larger ones take a little longer to bake and by separating the sizes, this allows you to remove the small ones sooner.
- I totally forgot that I own a pie crust protector and weights. Once I remembered, I dug them out and placed them on the half-baked pie and saved my edges from burning. YAAY for me!!
- I talked about perforated pans in my most recent macaron post - I highly recommend them for tarts and pies.
- Maybe I’m the last person on the planet to figure this out, but dough loves wood. I always find it easier to work with pastry dough when using a wooden rolling pin and work surface.
- Don't skip the blind bake!
What are some of your pie making and decorating tips? School me, PLEASE!!
Servings: 0 one 9-inch, double crust pie
Ingredients
Pastry (for two 9-inch crusts) - adapted from Baking Arts course material:
- 248 grams all-purpose unbleached fl our
- 12 grams granulated sugar
- 2.5 grams salt
- 229 grams unsalted butter chilled and grated
- 125 grams very cold water
- 1 egg
Filling (adapted from ED SmithPumpkin Puree:
- 2 eggs
- 175 grams full fat coconut milk
- 1 vanilla bean scraped
- 305 grams roasted pumpkin or canned pumpkin puree
- 230 grams loosely packed brown sugar
- 3 grams ground cinnamon
- 1 gram ground nutmeg
- 0.5 gram ground ginger
- pinch of sea salt to taste
Topping:
- 250 grams coconut cream
- superfine sugar to taste
- 1 g Rodelle pumpkin spice extract
- 1 packet wipped cream stabilizer optional
- 1 g pumpkin spice to garnish home-made or store bought
Instructions
To make the pastry:
- Chill the butter in the freezer for a few hours, or overnight.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt.
- Grate the butter into the flour mixture and work with your fingers or a pastry cutter, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Gradually add water just until the pastry begins to come together.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and bring together into a ball.
- Separate into two even pieces and wrap and chill each in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight. One half will be used for the bottom and the other to decorate the top of the pie.
- Once chilled, roll out one of the two balls of dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Drape the rolled dough onto a pie plate and use your fingers to press the dough into the plate. Clean up any rough or hanging edges and use a fork to poke hole in the base.
- Remove the other half of the dough from the fridge, roll out as above and and use a pastry/cookie cutter to cut desired shaped and strips for braiding.
- Place the butterfly cut-outs on a small tray and return to the fridge to chill. Arrange the braids around the edge of the pie crust. Return everything to the fridge to chill.
- Preheat oven to 425ºF and place a rack in the lower middle position of your oven. Blind bake for the crust by filling with parchment and pie weights, uncooked beans or rice and bake for about 10 minutes, just as the edges begin to show a little browning. Remove from the oven and remove the parchment and weights. Return to the oven for an additional 3-5 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 325F.
To make the pie filling:
- Add the eggs and milk to a medium bowl. Scrape the beans from the vanilla pod into the eggs and whisk together lightly.
- Whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until fully combined.
- Pour the mixture into the blind baked shell, place the pie shield on the edges and bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Add the butterflies to the oven during the last 3-5 minutes to bake. The little one bake up quickly, so keep an eye on them.
To make the whipped topping:
- Chill the cream, a stainless steel bowl and whisk in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Pour the cream into the chilled bowl, add the stabilizer (if using), sugar and spices and whip to soft peaks.
- Add the pumpkin spice extract and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
Assembly:
- Add the baked butterflies to the baked pie, while still hot.
- Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.
- Enjoy!!
Tried this recipe?Mention @isugarcoatit or tag #isugarcoatit !
Goreti says
Oooooh can you send me a slice. I love anything pumpkin but hubby doesn't so unless I want to it all by myself. Not that I couldn't but not a good idea. I do have a can of pumpkin puree just in case.
I Sugar Coat It! says
It's on its way, Goreti!! 🙂
Sarah says
Not only does this sound delicious, but it's absolutely gorgeous! 🙂 What a perfect dessert for the fall harvest!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks, Sarah!
Brian Jones says
I keep telling myself one day that I must try pumpkin pie, a dish rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic, beautiful presentation.
I Sugar Coat It! says
I hope you will soon! Thanks!
Just Jo says
What a pretty pie - I love all these lovely designs you see nowadays ID
I Sugar Coat It! says
So many beautiful designs - makes me think I might like what's inside...
Platter Talk says
Great recipe and beautiful presentation.! Just lovely.
Amanda says
What you have done with the crust is so coo! I totally love this. I'd give it 5 stars if it were gluten free 🙂
Allison - Celebrating Sweets says
This is quite possibly the most beautiful pumpkin pie ever! Great job!
Deb|EastofEdenCooking says
Love the coconut milk in this gorgeous pumpkin pie! A stunner Jacquee!