Homemade Pumpkin Pie..

I can't remember when was the last time I had pumpkin pie but it's been a while and I had been craving it for years it seems. A few weeks back I finally found pumpkin puree at the grocery store and I couldn't wait to make a pie. The only thing that was holding me back was "homemade" pie crust, I've always been scared of making pie crust.  This crust recipe is very simple to make, the only tools you need is a metal (stainless steel) bowl, strong stainless steel whisk, and your two hands. The filling is my very own recipe one that I had to come up with in order to have enough filling to fill up a tart pan. Freshly grated ginger and cardamon whipped cream take this simple American dessert to another level.

Ingredients
2 1/3 cups pumpkin puree
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
1 3/4 cup evaporated milk (full fat)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon mace
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (note follows)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pie crust ingredients
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
110 grams unsalted butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Ice water to make a dough (approximately 1/4 cup)

Pie crust, Directions
Sift the flour, sugar salt in a large metal bowl and place in the freezer for 15 minutes along with your metal whisk. Cut the butter into 20 pieces and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Remove the ingredients and tools from the freezer, toss the pieces of butter into your flour. With a large (cold) heavy duty whisk cut the butter into the flour by beating down on the butter cubes while turning the cold bowl at the same time. Continue to do so until it resembles course bread crumbs. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of ice water and rake through mixture with fingers until just moistened. Drizzle in remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time and comb through mixture with fingers to moisten. It will go from being a shaggy mess to coming together. Dough is moist enough when it is moistened through but is not wet when pressed. (Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough.)
While rotating the bowl with 1 hand, push dough between other palm and side of bowl to gather into a ball. Turn dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a flat disk, then close in wrap. Place in coldest part of refrigerator for 1 hour before rolling out and forming into a crust.

Pumpkin filling, Directions 
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and mace in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.) 

Note, only the juice from the grated ginger will be used in this recipe. After grating the ginger strain it through a fine colander or sieve.