I Tried Ina Garten's Ultimate Pumpkin Pie, And Realize I Should Have Been Adding These 2 Ingredients All Along

Ina taught me that mascarpone cheese and fresh ginger are almost instant ways to turn up the volume on the flavor of a classic cream cheese frosting. Then, she swooped in with her secret for the best brownies: coffee. (And I don’t even love drinking it!) And recently, Ina coached me through how to finally feel confident baking and assembling a layer cake. 

Leading up to the fall holidays, I made it my mission to try even more of the dessert recipes she deems her “ultimate,” including a pumpkin pie that fans deem “stupiddd good.”

How to Make Ina Garten's Pumpkin Pie

Originally published in her 2012 cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, this is Ina’s riff on America’s most popular Thanksgiving pie. The Food Network star admits to Williams-Sonoma that she finds most versions to be too dense and boring. (In fact, she prefers serving Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream over pie on turkey day.) 

For Ina’s ultimate, she “filled the prebaked crust with a lightly spiced pumpkin mixture that tastes more like a mousse than a dense custard,” Ina explains. “Dark rum and grated orange zest are my secret ingredients.” 

Here’s how to make one pumpkin pie, Ina-style:

1. Par-bake the pie crust. Line a pie pan with an unbaked pie crust (Ina’s Perfect Pie Crust, your favorite recipe, or a thawed store-bought pastry). Place the pie pan on a sheet pan. Line the crust with parchment paper, then fill it three-quarters to the top with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes at 425° F, carefully remove the beans and parchment, and use a fork to prick holes all around the crust. Bake for 5 minutes more. Remove the crust from the oven and lower the temp to 350° F.
2. Mix the pie filling. In a large bowl, whisk together a can of can pumpkin purée, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, kosher salt, grated orange zest, lightly-beaten extra-large eggs, heavy cream, whole milk, and dark rum (Ina likes Mount Gay brand). Pour the filling into the crust.
3. Bake the pie. Bake the pie for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the center is just set and a knife comes out crumb-free. Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool completely, which usually takes 2 hours or so.
4. Prep the topping. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat cold heavy cream on medium for 1 minute. Add granulated sugar, mascarpone cheese (or crème fraîche), pure vanilla extract, and a splash of dark rum. Beat on medium-high until soft peaks form. Serve dollops of Rum Whipped Cream on each slice of pie.

Tips For Making Pumpkin Pie

The process of making Ina’s ultimate holiday pie is much easier than I anticipated—especially if you start with a store-bought pastry crust. If you, too, are feeling inspired to give this a try for Thanksgiving, friendsgiving, or any day, here are a few pro tips from Ina, our Test Kitchen, and my kitchen experimenting:

• Remember that store-bought is fine. Sure, you can make pumpkin pie without a can (here’s how to turn a fresh pumpkin into silky pie filling). But Ina is a firm believer that “pumpkin purée is not only fine, it’s actually better,” she explains in a Williams-Sonoma holiday entertaining guide. Unless you carefully select your winter squash, then roast and manage its moisture and sweetness level (which can vary), you can end up with a pie that’s soupy, stringy, bland, or overly sweet. While Ina didn’t expressly say this, you can certainly pop her filling in a store-bought pastry or graham cracker crust to trim down on time and effort required, too.
• Trust the process. It might seem like an unnecessary step to par-bake the pie crust before pouring in the pumpkin mixture. The extra 20 minutes are definitely worth the time, though. The crust requires a head-start to finish at the same time as the filling. If you don’t par-bake, you might need to over-bake the interior, which increases the risk of scrambling or curdling the eggs in the filling.
• Time it right. If only a pie could pipe up and announce when it’s done, right? Even Thanksgiving hosting pros often find it challenging to tell when pumpkin pie is done, so don’t feel alone if this sounds familiar. Ina shares some helpful cues in her recipe, advising to bake until “the filling is just set in the middle and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.” Our Test Kitchen has one more trick if you’d like to guarantee that you’ve hit the sweet spot: Insert an instant-read thermometer into the center of the pie filling. Once it reads 180° F or slightly above, feel free to pull the pie from the oven.
• Try another spirit. Dark rum lends notes of baking spices, caramel, and occasionally, molasses to the pumpkin filling and the whipped cream topping. If you prefer whiskey, bourbon would also work beautifully. For a spirit-free alternative, swap in a N/A rum or whiskey, or add a dash of almond, rum, or vanilla extract instead.
• Say cheese. While it might seem odd at first glance to add cheese to your sweetened whipped cream garnish, stick to the script. Milky, buttery, and mildly sweet mascarpone only enhances the flavor, and its velvety consistency helps stabilize the whip so it doesn’t separate so quickly. Feel free to make it a day or two in advance; it should hold up just fine in the fridge.
• Chill out. Certain pies, including most fruit-filled ones, can be stored on the counter for up to 2 days, custard pies—including pumpkin—should be stored in the refrigerator after you’ve baked them and allowed the pie to cool completely. Refrigerate pumpkin pie for up to 4 days, or wrap it well and freeze pumpkin pie for up to 2 weeks.

The Verdict on Ina’s Ultimate Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Grated orange zest and dark rum—oh yes, and that spiked whipped cream—are the main elements that separate Ina’s Ultimate from our Test Kitchen’s tried-and-true Traditional Pumpkin Pie. So it’s no wonder that I found it to be love at first bite. 

The bright citrus flavor was a nice contrast to the rest of the rich filling, and the fact that Ina opts for heavy cream (essentially 0 grams of sugar) instead of evaporated milk (about 12 grams of sugar per ½ cup) means this pie is just sweet enough. The rum adds festive spirit—and a nice warm spice note to echo the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg—to lend extra complexity.

Paired with the spiked and sweet whipped cream, I found each bite of this pumpkin pie to be beautifully balanced. That said, if your definition of “ultimate” is just like grandma made, this isn’t it. The crust is slightly crisper, the filling is less dense, and the orange and rum aren’t traditionally invited to the party. For the classic, stick with your family’s heirloom recipe or our Test Kitchen’s best. But if you’re ready for a refresh, perhaps for a friendsgiving or another fall fête, Ina’s interpretation is worth a try.