Maple Pumpkin Pie

Recipe by Anna Gill

For the All Butter Pie Crust:
Yield: 1 - 10 inch pie crust (can be doubled)
1¼cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, preferably a European-style butter
like Plugra, cut into ½-inch pieces and re-chilled
2 to 5 tablespoons ice cold vodka (it evaporates and makes crust flakier)
Serves: 6 to 8

For the pie filling
2 recipes of All Butter pie crust 
an egg wash (beat 1 large egg with 1 teaspoon of water)
1 cup pure Connecticut maple syrup
2 cups pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
⅔cupwhole milk
2 large eggs

For the Pie Crust:
1. In a food processor, briefly pulse together the flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms chickpea-size pieces (3 to 5 one-second pulses).
2. Add vodka 1 tablespoon at a time, the fewer tablespoons the better. Pulse after adding each tablespoon until mixture is just moist enough to hold together. 
3. Form dough into a ball, wrap with plastic and flatten into as wide a disk as you quickly can. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before rolling out and baking.
4. Prebaked Crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie crust to a 12-inch circle. Transfer crust to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, then crimp edges. Prick crust all over with a fork. If you have time, freeze crust for 15 to 30 minutes; otherwise skip this step. Cover pie with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights (you can use coins, marbles, uncooked rice or dried beans for this). Bake for 15 minutes; remove foil and weights and bake until pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes more. Cool on rack until needed.

For the Pie Filling:
1. On a lightly floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll out two thirds dough ⅛ inch thick (about 14 inches round). Fit the dough into a 10 inch pie plate and trim edge leaving a ½ inch overhang. Crimp the edge decoratively and chill shell for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375o.
3. On a lightly floured surface roll out remaining dough ⅛ inch thick (about 10 inch round). With a 2 inch leaf shaped cutter cut out 16 leaves. Transfer the pastry leaves to a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Brush the leaves with some of the egg wash, being careful not to drip onto the edges. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer leaves to a rack and cool.
5. In a 3- to 3 ½ quart heavy saucepan gently boil maple syrup until a small amount dropped into a bowl of cold water forms a soft ball, about 210◦ on a candy thermometer. Cool slightly.
6. In a bowl, whisk together pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cream, milk and eggs. Add maple syrup to the mixture and whisk together.
7. Pour the filling into the shell and brush the edge of the shell with the egg wash. Bake pie in the middle of the oven 1 hour or until the filling is set but the center still shakes slightly. (The filling will continue to cook as the pie cools.) Transfer pie to a rack to cool completely.
8. Garnish pie with pastry leaves just before serving.