The Most Beautiful Pumpkin Pie

You can make the most beautiful pumpkin pie with just a few additions to the usual recipe. In today’s post, I’m sharing how I take my pumpkin pie from simple to beautiful with the addition of pie crust leaves and sugared cranberries.

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Is Pumpkin Pie Eaten at Thanksgiving or Christmas?

But first, let’s answer one of the most often asked questions: Is pumpkin pie eaten at Thanksgiving or Christmas?

The answer is both! In the United States, pumpkin pie is traditionally eaten at both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A few fun facts:

• Pumpkin Pie Day is December 25th and is registered as a national holiday in the United States.
• In a 2020 poll, 29% of Americans named pumpkin pie as their favorite pie.
• More pumpkin pie is eaten on Thanksgiving and Christmas than any other days of the year.
• In addition to Americans, Canadians also have a fondness for pumpkin pie during the holidays.

Our family is no exception. Pumpkin pie is always on our holiday table, at Thanksgiving and at Christmas.

Printable Recipe Card

Want a quick view of the recipe? I’ve posted it below. The recipe card is printable.

You’ll find detailed notes about ingredients and how to make the recipe following the recipe card.

The Most Beautiful Pumpkin Pie Ingredients and Notes

Today’s recipe utilizes simple ingredients and a special tool for punching out leaves to decorate the pie. I’ve linked my leaf punch-outs used for today’s pie, as well as a set of Christmas punch-outs in case you want to try your hand at a new design.

The recipe can be made following the instructions provided here or you can make it really simple by starting with a pre-bought pie. Dress up the pie with the leaves and cranberries and you can create the most beautiful pumpkin pie with a few less steps.

You can also go all out and make your favorite homemade pie crust and/or homemade pumpkin puree. You do you!!!

Let’s head to our kitchens to gather everything needed to make The Most Beautiful Pumpkin Pie. 

What Ingredients do I need to make the Most Beautiful Pumpkin Pie?

• 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar: It’s dessert time! Sugar is a must.
• 1/2 teaspoon Table Salt: Always measure the salt when baking and make needed adjustments if substituting Kosher or Sea Salt.
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon: Cinnamon and pumpkin pie go hand in hand. It’s such a wonderful warm spice.
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger: Ginger is one of my favorite ingredients. It’s wonderful in both sweet and savory dishes.
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves: Ground cloves add a rich flavor to pumpkin pie and in my opinion is a must-have ingredient. However, don’t go heavy on the cloves. Be sure to measure and level out the spice in your measuring spoon before adding to the custard mix.
• 2 Large Eggs: We use farm fresh eggs courtesy of our chickens (the MegHENs). Be sure to crack your eggs into a separate bowl so that you don’t risk adding shells to the recipe.
• 15 ounces Pumpkin Puree: I typically use homemade pumpkin puree. If you don’t make pumpkin puree yourself, substitute a 15 ounce can of store-bought 100% pumpkin. Do not use canned pumpkin pie filling.
• 12 fluid ounces Evaporated Milk: The better the ingredients the better the taste of your pie, so be sure to use your favorite brand.
• 2 Pie Crusts: You’ll need two pie crusts for today’s recipe, 1 for the pie shell and a second for the cut-out leaves. Feel free to use store bought or homemade pie crusts.
• 1 small bag Cranberries: I love the addition of cranberries to this pie. They help elevate the pie from your standard pumpkin pie to the most beautiful pumpkin pie.
• An Extra Egg: You’ll need a 3rd egg to apply an egg wash to your leaf cut-outs.
• 1+ Extra Cups Granulated Sugar: Be sure you have and extra cup of sugar on hand to make the simple syrup and a few extra Tablespoons of sugar to coat the cranberries and dust the leaf cut-outs.
• Flour for Dusting: You’ll need a few Tablespoons of flour for dusting the work surface when rolling out the pie dough for leaf cut-outs.

How do I make the Most Beautiful Pumpkin Pie?

Now that you’ve gathered the needed ingredients, it’s time to make the pie!

Speaking of time, the pie itself takes about an hour and one-half to make and needs several hours to cool before decorating.

You’ll need 20 minutes to prepare the pie custard and an hour to bake the pie. While the pie is baking you can prepare the sugared cranberries and the leaf punch-outs.

When the pie has finished baking, bake the leaves bout 10-12 minutes.

Decorate your pie after everything is cooled.

Let’s get started.

How to Make a Pumpkin Pie

1. Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees F and taking the pie crusts out of the refrigerator so that they can come to room temperature.
2. In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients: sugar, salt and spices (cinnamon, ginger and cloves).
3. In a larger bowl, beat 2 eggs.
4. Add the pumpkin puree to the eggs. Combine.
5. In the larger bowl, combine the dry ingredients with the pumpkin and eggs to create the pumpkin pie custard.
6. Finally, add the evaporated milk to the custard and combine.
7. Roll out your pie crust dough and add to a 9″ pie plate. Crimp the edges of the dough to create a ruffled crust.
8. Pour your custard into the prepared pie crust.
9. Bake the pumpkin pie in the preheated oven (425 degrees F) for 15 minutes.
10. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake the pie an additional 45 minutes. (Note: Test the pie to see if it is done by inserting a knife near the center of the pie. It should come out clean.)
11. When done, remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool for a few hours prior to decorating.

How to Make Leaf Pie Crust Punch-Outs

1. While the pie is baking, prepare the leaf cut-outs. When your pie is done, adjust the oven temperature to 375 degrees F so that you can bake the leaves.
2. Begin by rolling out the second pie crust on a flour-dusted surface.
3. Using leaf punch-outs, create leaves in the dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
4. Beat an egg and apply an egg wash to the leaves using a silicone brush.
5. Sprinkle the leaves with granulated sugar.
6. Bake leaves 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees F until golden brown.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

How to Make Sugared Cranberries

1. Begin by creating a simple syrup. Mix 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 cup of water in a saucepan and cook on medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. Reduce stovetop temperature to a low simmer and add your cranberries.
3. Allow cranberries to simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove cranberries from the liquid and place on a baking rack to cool. Allow cranberries to cool but not dry out. Note: Save your cranberry simple syrup for holiday cocktails. It’s so good!
5. When the cranberries are still tacky, roll them in granulated sugar and place on a baking rack to dry.

The Most Beautiful Pumpkin Pie: The Final Steps

Now that everything is ready, it’s time to decorate. A few tips and recommendations to create your pie:

1. First, don’t plan on covering the entire pumpkin pie with leaves and cranberries. It’s nice to see that the pie is indeed a pumpkin pie plus not all of your guests will want the extras.
2. Start by adding the leaves to your pie. Create an arc shape with the leaves covering about half of the pie.
3. Rather than creating a uniform look with the leaves, imagine a pile of fall leaves on the ground and create an organic look.
4. After you have arranged the leaves on your pie, add the sugared cranberries.
5. Again, keep the look organic. Rather than evenly spacing the cranberries, allow them to group together randomly.
6. That’s it! Your pie is ready to serve. If you prefer, you can chill the pumpkin pie overnight. Also, everyone in our household loves a generous dollup of whipped cream with their pumpkin pie. Enjoy!

Cheers to retired life, and as always, happy gardening!

x Penny Pennington Weeks

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