Handcrafted Delight: Homemade Butternut Squash Pie with a Twist

Embark on a flavorful journey as we venture from the savory realm of main courses to the sweet finale of the meal – the pie! Our homemade butternut squash pie with a twist takes center stage, captivating your taste buds with its luscious blend of autumnal flavors. This unique creation adds a delightful twist to the traditional pie, infusing it with the rich and velvety essence of butternut squash, ensuring a memorable and indulgent dessert experience.

Creating a Dessert from Fresh Butternut Squash:

Our dessert star is a delightful butternut squash pie, prepared from vibrant butternut squash picked from our backyard garden. This pie is an excellent choice for those who appreciate the freshness of homemade squash puree over canned versions.

There’s something remarkable about using fresh puree. Its bright color, natural sweetness, and smoother texture surpass the typical pumpkin puree found in many recipes. The process to make this puree is quite simple: peel and chunk the butternut squash, steam until tender, and blend to perfection.

I often pair this pie with a dollop of spiced whipped cream, adding an extra dimension to the flavor profile. However, an age-old scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream is just as satisfying.

Ingredients

For the Pie Filling:

• 2 cups of homemade butternut squash puree (approximately 900g)
• 14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk (about 400g)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon of ground cloves
• ⅛ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon of salt

For the Crust:

• 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour (roughly 160g)
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 stick of chilled, unsalted butter (4 oz. or 115g, chopped into petite cubes)
• 3 tablespoons of icy water
• 1 egg (combined with 1 tablespoon of water)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. In a spacious bowl, combine the butternut squash puree, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices, and salt. Whisk until it becomes a uniform blend. Set this aside.
2. Next, let’s move on to the pie dough. In another large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Utilize a pastry cutter or a pair of knives to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs. Then, introduce the cold water, stirring it in until a dough is formed.
3. Transfer the dough onto a flour-dusted surface and gather it into a ball. Press this ball into a disc shape, then roll it out into a 12-inch circle using a rolling pin dusted with flour. Carefully lay the rolled-out dough into a 9-inch pie plate.
4. Give your filling mix one last whisk to ensure it’s well combined, then pour it into the waiting pie shell. Brush the crust’s edges with the egg wash mixture.
5. Bake the pie at the current temperature for 15 minutes, then decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for roughly 35 more minutes or until a knife inserted into the edge of the pie emerges clean. Serve your homemade butternut squash pie with a side of whipped cream or ice cream for an indulgent finish!