Here are a couple. The first is Nancy Silverton's from La Brea Bakery, the 2nd is my own.
(a brief note about the crusts: for years I slaved over scratch pie crusts with fair to middling results. A few years ago, I discovered that Trader Joe's frozen pie pastry does an outstanding job filling in and cuts work time by close to 50%. If you have the other ingredients, you can literally whip up a pie from "scratch" and have it in the oven in under 10 minutes! I'm not proud but there you have it.)
Campanile’s Thanksgiving Pie
1½ cups cooked YAMS
3 Tbsp BROWN SUGAR
½ cup CANNED PUMPKIN
1 Tbsp BRANDY
1 VANILLA BEAN
1 tsp GROUND GINGER
¼ cup (½ stick) BUTTER
½ tsp SALT
2 EGGS
1 pinch CLOVES
1 EGG YOLK
1 pinch GROUND WHITE PEPPER
¾ cup CREAM + extra for thinning
2 Tbsp MILK + extra for thinning
1 BAKED TEN INCH PIE CRUST
1 Tbsp GRANULATED SUGAR
1/3 cup MAPLE SYRUP
¼ tsp each CINNAMON and NUTMEG
Puree yams and pumpkin together, reserve. Melt butter in small skillet. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds into butter, brown vanilla in the butter, 3-5 minutes. Add to pumpkin-yam mixture.
Combine eggs, egg yolk, cream, milk, syrup, brown sugar, brandy, ginger, salt, cloves and pepper in separate bowl until well mixed. Add to pumpkin-yam-butter mix. Strain. This should be fairly thin and smooth. Thin further with 4-6 Tbsp equal parts milk and cream. This should be thin enough to pour. Pour into pie shell.
Combine granulated sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over pie. Bake at 325º F until slightly puffed and set in center, 1 to 1½ hours. Cool on a rack for 4 hours or over night. Serve with whipped cream or the always popular crème fraîche.
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(this is the one I'm making for our Thanksgiving. Recently, I've been experimenting with making pies in a 9" springform pan. Much as you would do with a tart shell, you press the pastry three-quarters of the way up the sides in a rough circle and chill before adding the filling.
Makes for a tall slice which is remarkably easy to get out of the pan (once the ring is off) and looks dramatic when served with cinnamon or butterscotch whipping cream.)
A Yankee Jewboy's Pumpkin Pie
1 unbaked pastry for a 9-10" pie
1½ cups canned PUMPKIN PUREE
3 Tbsp BOURBON
1 cup (packed) GOLDEN BROWN SUGAR
1 cup WHIPPING CREAM
3 LARGE EGGS, separated
1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT
¾ tsp GROUND CINNAMON
¼ tsp GROUND MACE
¼ tsp SALT
Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 400°F.
Place pumpkin puree in large bowl, mix in egg yolks. Whisk in brown sugar, whipping cream, vanilla extract, cinnamon, mace and salt.
Whip eggs whites to the soft-peak stage and before moving on, brush crust with a teaspoon of them. Gently fold the remaining whipped whites into the pumpkin mixture and pour the filling into the crust.
Bake pie until filling is puffed around edges and set in center, about 45 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; refrigerate.) Makes 8 servings.
