Pumpkin Pie with Sweetened Condensed Milk

For the pie crust

Add very cold butter chunks into the flour and salt mixture and rub the mixture between your fingers until it becomes a sand like consistency. Leave some bigger butter chunks in the dough, do not over work it

Add very cold water into the dough, a small amount at a time, and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon after each addition

Start working the dough with your hands. First, it will look crumbly but it should come together in the next minute or so. Do not knead the dough as such, stop mixing, as soon as it comes together.

Form a disk, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours

After 2 hours, take the pie dough disk out of the fridge and let it rest few minutes on the kitchen counter. The dough should stay cold but slightly warmed up to be able to roll it out without breaking it

Transfer the disk to a silicone baking mat or a lightly floured surface and start rolling it out, make sure you turn the dough with your hands after each rolling so it will become even. No need to add too much flour while rolling, the pie dough should be cold enough not to stick to the kitchen counter. If at any point the dough gets too warm, pop it back into the freezer for a minute to chill then continue

If you are using a Pie dish 9 inch / 23 cm, roll the dough to 10 inch / 27 cm in diameter. Remember, do not force the dough, after rolling, it should stay smooth and cold, and easy to work with. The most common reason for pie crust shrinking is forcing and stretching it.

Gently butter your pie dish so you can easily remove the Pie after baking

Carefully place the dough into a Pie dish 9 inch / 23 cm.

Fold the extra dough around under the crust then flute with your fingers

Chill pie dough again in the freezer for 30 minutes

Pre-heat oven to 200 C / 372 F (no fan)

After 30 minutes, line pie crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (rice can work completely fine too). Blind bake pie crust for 15 minutes

After 15 minutes, remove the pie weight, and apply a thin layer of egg wash (using egg white only) on the bottom and side of the pie crust, this will support the crust not to get wet from the filling eg when making pumpkin pie.

Alternatively, for an even better shine, apply a light egg wash (egg yolk + splash of milk) on the edge of the pie crust

Bake the pie crust again now without pie weight for further 15 minutes

Pumpkin Pie filling with condensed milk

Mix pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, corn starch, whole eggs and egg yolk with a hand whisk then whisk in sweetened condensed milk

Assembling

Pour the pumpkin filling into the pre-baked crust. Cover the side of the crust with aluminium foil, then lower the oven temperature and bake at 350F / 177C (no fan) for 50 minutes

The pie is ready when the side of the filling is well baked and the middle is still slightly jiggly.

Let the pie set for 4 hours refrigerated before decorating and cutting. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days in an air-tight container.

Decoration (optional)

Whip up mascarpone, heavy cream, and powdered sugar with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes, then with the help of a piping bag and round nozzle tip, pipe decoration in the middle of the pie then gently press a teaspoon on the piping pattern creating the effect you see on the picture.