Recipe from Pichet Ong
Adapted by Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(62)
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 1medium kabocha squash, about 3 pounds
- 10ounces (1⅓ cups) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1cup sugar
- 1½teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (about ¼ of a nutmeg)
- ½teaspoon salt
- 1½tablespoons brandy
- 2eggs at room temperature
- ¾cup (2 ounces) walnuts
- ½cup, packed, light brown sugar
- ¾cup graham cracker crumbs (about 7 crackers)
- Grated zest of 1 lime
- ¾teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾teaspoon salt
- ¼cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- Crème fraîche, for serving (optional)
- Ginger butterscotch sauce, for serving (see recipe)
For the Filling
For the Crust
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
481 calories; 26 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 59 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 43 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 425 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
For pie filling, bring an inch of water to a boil in a large covered pot fitted with a steamer basket or rack. Put in squash, cover and steam, replenishing water as needed, until fork tender, about 1 hour. Turn squash over halfway through steaming. Set squash aside until cool enough to handle.
Step
2
Heat oven to 325 degrees. For crust, place walnuts on a baking tray, and toast in oven, stirring once or twice, until fragrant, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
Step
3
In a food processor, combine walnuts with a few tablespoons brown sugar and pulse a few times, until nuts are coarsely ground. In a large bowl, whisk nuts with graham cracker crumbs, remaining brown sugar, lime zest, spices and salt. Pour melted butter over this mixture, and mix with your fingers until butter is distributed. Press evenly into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Bake crust until lightly browned, about 12 minutes, then set aside. Keep oven at 300 degrees.
Step
4
When squash is cool, cut it in half and scoop out seeds and pulp. Scoop squash flesh into a measuring cup until you have 2½ cups.
Step
5
In a food processor, process cream cheese with sugar, spices and salt until light and smooth. Scrape down bowl, add squash and process until smooth. Mix in brandy and then eggs, one at a time. Finish mixing with a rubber spatula.
Step
6
Place pie plate on a baking sheet and scrape filling into crust. Bake until just set in center, about 1 hour. Let cool before serving, topped with crème fraîche and drizzled with butterscotch sauce.
Ratings
4
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Cooking Notes
Stephanie
This is a stellar pie recipe! The fresh ginger, lime zest and walnuts send it into another dimension of yummy.
Rita Williams
Made this tonight and it was lovely. I'd suggest you really look at how thin this crust and filling are. If I made again, I'd bake it in a smaller pan, and add more lime zest. I made it with filling with 3/4 C sugar and that was fine, and didn't have brandy, so used vanilla. Definitely would make it again.
Cathy
Microwaved the squash with a half cup of water on a plate for 10min on high, then another 5. Cut sugar in both crust and filling by half, and inadvertently used a butternut squash instead of kabocha but still turned out great (minus something I must have screwed up in the crust, I think not enough graham cracker; would cut the whole crust ingredients in half next time). Would make again!
Elizabeth
This recipe is so incredible, that I still have the original newsprint clipping from Nov 17, 2004. As others say, you will want to increase the graham cracker & lime. I love the dynamic flavor & texture of this pie. Revelatory.
Libby
Super delicious and decadent, though overly so (in my opinion). I stuck pretty close to the recipe, using 8oz cream cheese instead of 10, adding a little greek yogurt instead. It came out very pudding-y, and EXTREMELY rich -- the cream cheese makes it so dense and fatty, the table becomes lethargic after 3 bites. Might try just using yogurt (or labne would be perfect) instead of CC next time. I also used half the recommended sugar, which nicely amplified the natural sweetness of the kabocha.
Mac
I used leftover roasted squash and added a couple tablespoons of water to rehydrate it, worked great!
Elizabeth
This recipe is so incredible, that I still have the original newsprint clipping from Nov 17, 2004. As others say, you will want to increase the graham cracker & lime. I love the dynamic flavor & texture of this pie. Revelatory.
Bud
I'm up in the air about this recipe. While the flavors were interesting and balanced, and the crust was terrific, the kabocha squash remained chunky despite processing, making the filling quite dense. Eating a slice warm after baking the pie was pleasant. Eating a slice the next day illustrated well the law of diminishing returns. Try it, you might like it.
Irene
Last week I purchased a gorgeous vermillion Kabocha squash thinking it was new to me (color) and might be an improvement (hardly necessary) on the usual green selection. I roasted it by halves in 1/2" of water before I knew what I was going to do with it. OMG. The flavor! It needed NO sugar. But I settled on this recipe anyway. It is excellent but next time I would up the crust volume and increase the lime zest a bit to really cover the bottom and sides of the pie plate as I ran a little short.
Cathy
Microwaved the squash with a half cup of water on a plate for 10min on high, then another 5. Cut sugar in both crust and filling by half, and inadvertently used a butternut squash instead of kabocha but still turned out great (minus something I must have screwed up in the crust, I think not enough graham cracker; would cut the whole crust ingredients in half next time). Would make again!
Olga
This has become my go-to holiday pie. I totally love it.
Stacey
Magnificent flavor and texture, but so sweet it makes my teeth hurt. I agree with cutting sugar in the filling, and next time I’ll also reduce it in the crust.
Rita Williams
Made this tonight and it was lovely. I'd suggest you really look at how thin this crust and filling are. If I made again, I'd bake it in a smaller pan, and add more lime zest. I made it with filling with 3/4 C sugar and that was fine, and didn't have brandy, so used vanilla. Definitely would make it again.
Stephanie
This is a stellar pie recipe! The fresh ginger, lime zest and walnuts send it into another dimension of yummy.
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