Tina Luu is a pastry chef with a mission: teaching. She taught at the Art Institute in San Diego for many years and now is focusing her sights on teaching high school students
Ingredients
- 10 ounces pumpkin puree
- Pinch of salt
- 3.5 ounces granulated sugar
- 3.5 ounces brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 eggs
- 6 ounces evaporated milk
- 5 ounces heavy cream
- ¼ vanilla bean, scraped
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
Preparation
Preheat the over to 420 degrees.
Combine pumpkin, salt, sugar, brown sugar, and spices in a saucepan and cook three minutes over a medium flame. Cool.
Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, and vanillas. Add to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until smooth.
Pour into a prepared (frozen or par-baked) pie shell. Reduce heat to 325 and bake about 35 minutes, until the custard is set on the side and the center just jiggles. Cool completely.
Optional topping:
Cranberry Compote
Ingredients
8 ounces fresh or frozen whole cranberries
6 ounces granulated sugar
Zest and juice of one orange
2 ounces candied ginger, diced (optional)
Combine ingredients except the orange zest and candied ginger, in a sauce pan and cook over medium high heat until cranberries burst open. Stir periodically so the bottom doesn’t scorch.
Once the mixture thickens to “cranberry sauce” consistency, pull off the heat. Add the zest and diced ginger and cool.
Top the pumpkin pie and decorate with vanilla bean or orange-infused whipped cream.
