Pumpkin Pie with Baklava Crust
Spiced, silky pumpkin pie sits nestled in a tall crust of flaky crispy pecan baklava shell.
Servings 1 9 or 10 inch pie
Equipment
- 9 or 10 inch springform pan
Ingredients
Pecan Baklava Crust
- 300g or 3 scant cups raw pecans
- 100g or ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or just cinnamon
- A pinch - ¼ teaspoon teaspoon fine sea salt
- 20-22 phyllo sheets thawed
- Ghee for brushing on the phyllo
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 226g or 1 block cream cheese full fat and at room temperature
- 100g or ½ cup brown sugar dark or light
- 1 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 425g or 1 can pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 65gor ½ cup powdered sugar sifted
Honey Syrup
- 60g or ¼ cup water
- 100g or ½ cup fine granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Pinch fine sea salt
- Vanilla if desired
Instructions
- Prep: preheat the oven to 350 F and spread the pecans on a baking sheet. Toast for 7-10 minutes, until fragrant. Set aside to cool. Once completely cool, add the pecans, pumpkin spice or cinnamon, salt, and sugar to a food processor and grind until the pecans are finely chopped. Set aside.
- Make the pumpkin pie filling: set the cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, salt and vanilla in a medium to large sized bowl. Using a hand mixer beat until smooth - the goal is to get out any cream cheese lumps. Once smooth, add the pumpkin puree and beat to combine. Scrape the bowl as needed for even mixing. Add the eggs and beat, sift in the powdered sugar and beat until the mix is smooth. Set aside while you make the crust.
- Make the crust: If your ghee is too thick to spread, warm it up slightly in the microwave so it’s easy to brush onto the phyllo. Use a 9 or 10″ round springform pan, laying a sheet of parchment on the bottom and buckle to close. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with ghee. Then begin layering the first 10 sheets: place the first sheet so it mostly covers the bottom of the pan but also comes up and folds over the side of the pan. Brush with ghee all over then place the second sheet so it also covers the bottom but only partially covers the top part – it’ll be slightly askew, covering the first sheet only halfway. Do this with ten sheets for the bottom layer, arranging each a little more clockwise so that you are covering the whole pan. After you have the tenth layer, brush with ghee and evenly sprinkle on half the nut mixture. Lay a sheet of phyllo on top and arrange five more phyllo sheets on top of the nuts (each brushed with ghee and layered a bit askew to cover the whole pan). Spread remaining nut mixture then repeat the process with the last five sheets of phyllo.
- Assemble & Bake: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Pour the pumpkin pie mixture into the center of the unbaked phyllo crust. Scrunch up the sides of the phyllo that were laying over the edge into a ruffled shape (it’s okay if it tears, it need not be pretty) leaving a little gap in the center so you can see when the filling is done baking. If you feel like it’s too thick in these scrunched up parts, tear some off (when too thick, the layers will struggle to bake and might remain a little doughy, this is more likely to happen with a 9 inch springform pan). Place the pie on a cookie sheet (the ghee sometimes leaks) and on the middle rack of the oven. Bake until the phyllo is golden all over, but more importantly until you can gently shake the pan and the center of the pie (where you can see the pumpkin pie filling) wobbles slightly, it should not move like it’s sloshing (if so, it needs more time) about 45-55 minutes. If you don’t mind a slight hole in the center you can check the internal temperature, it should be at 160 F.
- Pour the syrup: when the pumpkin pie is close to being done, make the syrup by adding all the ingredients to a small pot. Cook until the sugar dissolves and then a bit more until slightly thickened (but still pourable). When the pie is done baking, keep it on that cookie sheet, slowly pour the syrup on and around the edges (not the center where the filling is). Let the pie cool completely on the counter then unbuckle the side ring and gently lift off the pie. Transfer the pie to a rimmed pie plate (to catch any liquid) and set in the fridge for a few hours so the filling can chill. Store in the fridge where it will keep for up to five days.