By Mid-February. The cold has been the kind of cold that gets into the walls of the rental house and stays there. The water heater pilot light went out Tuesday night at ten PM and Mama and I were on the back porch in our coats at ten-fifteen trying to get the relight to take. It would not take. Dustin came over Wednesday morning on his way to the HVAC shop where he is doing his apprenticeship and re-lit the pilot in about forty seconds, which is the kind of small competence that becomes attractive after you have spent ninety minutes on a back porch in fourteen-degree weather trying to get the same pilot to behave.
Mama had asked at breakfast Thursday what I wanted to make for the weekend now that the household was running on hot water again. I had told her pumpkin pie because the can of pumpkin in the pantry from last Thanksgiving had been waiting for the right Sunday and the cold week was the right Sunday. She had said: do the streusel one. Carol’s 1980 card.
I made the streusel pumpkin pie Sunday afternoon. The recipe is a pumpkin custard pie in a from-scratch crust with a brown-sugar-flour-butter-pecan streusel sprinkled across the top in the last twenty minutes of baking so the streusel caramelizes without burning while the custard sets. The pie comes out of the oven with a crackly streusel top and a still-soft custard underneath. Mama had two slices. Dustin had two. I had one. The pie disappeared by Tuesday lunch.
Streusel Pumpkin Pie
Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 20 min | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
- 1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Streusel Topping:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Fit pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate and crimp edges. Set aside.
- Make the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt until smooth and fully combined.
- Par-bake the crust. Line the crust with parchment and pie weights (or dried beans) and bake for 8 minutes. Remove weights and bake 2 more minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
- Make the streusel. In a small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Work cold butter into the mixture with your fingers until crumbly and pea-sized clumps form. Stir in pecans if using. Refrigerate until needed.
- Fill and bake. Pour pumpkin filling into the par-baked crust. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
- Add streusel topping. Carefully pull the pie from the oven and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the surface of the filling. Return to oven and bake an additional 20–25 minutes, until the center is just set (it will jiggle slightly but not slosh) and the streusel is golden.
- Cool completely. Transfer pie to a wire rack and cool for at least 2 hours before slicing. The filling sets fully as it cools — don’t rush it.
- Serve. Slice and serve at room temperature or chilled, with whipped cream if you’re feeling generous.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 340 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 50g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 210mg