Flour Bakery's Super Pumpkiny Pumpkin Pie
I would venture that compared to other metropolitan cities, Boston’s food scene occasionally falls short with quality or value. There is a dearth of good ethnic food options, and while very good fine dining exists, the prices can be unpalatable.
However, we are quite lucky to have Flour Bakery, which was recommended to me more than once during my first year in Boston. Unfortunately, the original bakery is located in the South End, a neighborhood we rarely frequent.
Fast forward almost seven years later: part of my daily morning commute for my three month-rotation at Boston Medical Center involved walking past Flour. Each morning, I saw the same couple sitting outside with the paper and their breakfast; the same dog patiently lying outside for his owner; and the growing line inside soon after the doors opened at 7 AM.
An impromptu visit one morning to grab a treat for my pregnant self quickly escalated to an almost daily ritual. I methodically sampled their breakfast offerings–scones, muffins, croissant, brioche, sticky buns, and even their homemade pop tarts. I love their oat muffin with baked fruit, which at the beginning of summer contained peaches and then pears with ginger in the fall. On days that I needed something a little more indulgent, I had chocolate brioche. And there was certainly one (or two) times when I finished nearly half of their freshly baked golden raisin and walnut bread before lunch. Who can resist warm, slightly-crackly-on-the-outside-and-soft-on-the-inside bread full of raisins and nuts?
Moreover, their prices are very reasonable. I love their hot chocolate made from a dark chocolate ganache, and Nathan confirms that their coffee is very drink-worthy.
Not surprisingly, I put Joanne Chang’s Flour Bakery cookbook onto my Christmas list … in August. I would have had to wait another month and a half more, but thankfully, Nathan gifted me this cookbook just in time for Thanksgiving, when we had the opportunity to bake this very yummy pumpkin pie.
The cookbook, by the way, is lovely; I hopefully will have the chance to start baking other goodies from it very soon and to share them with you.
Joanne Chang mentions in the prolog to this recipe that prior to opening Flour, she had never tasted pumpkin pie, but this is what she would imagine it to taste like. Good taste, indeed! To concentrate the pumpkin flavor, you first reduce pumpkin puree with brown sugar until you have a golden brown paste. While the recipe calls for 16 ounces, we used a more standard 15 ounce can without any problems. The pumpkin custard filling is delicately flavored with cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves. There is nothing overpowering about the spices, which can often dominate other pumpkin pies. Of note, not all the custard filling fits into a 9-inch pie plate.
The filling obtains its richness and smooth mouth feel from heavy cream and one of my favorite ingredients, sweetened condensed milk. Indeed, I noticed that the list of ingredients are very similar to that for making flan.
I opted to use Flo Braker’s incredibly flaky and tender pie crust recipe instead of the pate brisee. I was initially worried that the flaky crust would be too delicate for the custard filling, but the thought quickly vanished after my first bite. In order to ensure that the crust did not become soggy with the filling, I blind baked the crust and then lightly brushed egg whites over the bottom and sides. This worked out beautifully, although I am curious to try the pate brisee recipe next time!
The pie keeps very well covered in the refrigerator for up to two days. It may stay well for longer, but it did not last long enough for me to find out!
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