Brandied Pumpkin and Chestnut Pie Recipe (2024)

I've made this pumpkin pie every year since the recipe was published. This year, for the first time, I couldn't find canned creme de marrons in the usual store. I had no time to search, so I made my own using pre-cooked chestnuts and an online recipe. (There are many.) It was fast, easy, less sweet than the canned version, and tasted much more like chestnuts. A definite improvement.

Freezing generally isn't a good idea with custard pies (like this one) because the custard will weep and both the filling and crust texture will suffer. Pie shells freeze well, and so does squash puree. How about freezing the pie shell and freezing the seasoned filling (with everything BUT the eggs) uncooked and then defrosting and combining (plus the eggs) when you need pie?

This works -just- fine with canned pumpkin for the non-purists out there, or those with seventeen things in the oven already and no space to roast pie pumpkins. I've started buying sweetened chestnut puree in the massive cans and freezing the extra for future pies, since it's now a holiday staple.

If using canned pumpkin purée, do you still mix with the butter and sugar? Thanks you!

I made this for the first time yesterday (for Thanksgiving) and it was a great hit. I used canned pumpkin for one and fresh roasted for another, and we could only tell the difference from color- the fresh pie was lighter. The brandy adds a nice depth note, and the chestnut cream is a lovely little surprise when you taste it. I have already passed along the recipe to the pie makers at our dinner.

I eagerly anticipated tasting this pie and it is delicious. It's too sweet for my taste because of the chestnut paste. However the ginger and chestnut flavors contrast beautifully. I may try again but make my own chestnut paste which is not as sweet. My idea Is to whip the paste into cream cheese and an egg to create creamy chestnut cheesecake layer. Wonderfully rich but less sweet. Thank you Melissa. I love your recipes.

I reinvestigated this ...on second thought, there usually is no butter in pumpkin pies. Also, it you puree a real pumpkin it makes too much and the recipe states to only use one cup. So you throw away a fair amount of homemade pureed pumpkin with the sugar and melted butter. If you added all that sugar/melted butter to your canned pumpkin, your recipe would be off..

This was delightful! I made my own chestnut butter using packaged chestnuts, water and simple syrup. Because I was short on cream, I used milk in step 3. When it came out of the oven the bottom side of the crust was dens and soggy. I first thought that the heat was too low, as I've never cooked a pie at 300 degrees. But, realized it might have been the milk.

Reading the others notes I made the chestnut paste. Its is fabulous and has many uses. That said, my homemade version over powered the pumpkin so I would try the pre-made chestnut paste if I were to bake this again.

Well, I mistakenly brought chestnut spread. We’ll see how it turns out! It seemed as though spread mixed with the cream, just mixed with the pumpkin and egg mixture when I put it in the piecrust. Darn! My mistake but it turns out OK.

Is there a way to make this with a non-milk substitute?

Rachel Pearl fantastic idea to sub the paste with fresh chestnuts (I ALWAYS ALWAYS reduce the hefty amounts of sugar asked for in recipes across the board). With a mortar and pestle after you’ve cooked the chestnuts (poach them?) to almost soft, you let them cool, then with your mortar and pestle, mash them into the paste, and season accordingly, no?

I made my own chestnut puree and it was delicious! Definitely making this one again.

Fantastic....this will now be our go to pumpkin pie. I used pre-peeled vacuum packed chestnuts and made my own sweetened puree (easy to do just puree chestnuts in the blender and add a bit of sugar syrup and vanilla extract - no need for cooking just blend to paste consistency). Also you will definitely have enough pumpkin for at least 2 pies with 2 lbs of pumpkin.

This is perhaps the best pie ever. I recommend making your own creme de marron (d’artagnon has a good recipe on line which uses about 7 oz of prepared chestnuts and is super easy). I personally prefer using a pie crust recipe that uses vodka.

This oven temperature is way off. 350-375 for 1 hour. Cover edges if it browns too much. Also, I use the straight chestnut paste, way less treacly. And I highly recommend using fresh sugar pumpkin or butternut squash. It makes an enormous difference in the depth of flavor with the caramelization. This is definitely my favorite pumpkin pie ever. It’s genius.

Making do, I baked this in a springform pan. The linked crust recipe does NOT give baking instructions, so I prebaked the crust and it shrank to a disk with no sides; my second crust (with higher sides) also shrank but the sides remained high enough to hold most of the filling. I made my own chestnut paste as well because none at store (https://akispetretzikis.com/categories/glyka/poyres-kastano) so this became a ganze megillah. Hope it was worth the trouble (grrr!).

Question- a few people in my family don’t drink (not even added to food). Is there a way to get the depth from Brandy without having to use actual Brandy? Many thanks xx

Has anyone tried making this without the chestnuts? I have a nut allergy but this sounds delicious otherwise.

I really like this pumpkin pie recipe. The custard is very light and not as dense as storebought pumpkin pies. Had never used chestnut paste before and it goes with this pie perfectly!I used canned pumpkin since squash isn't currently in season where I live and it worked great. The brandy was a great addition but was on the stronger side. Will probably add less next time I make this.

Instead of pumpkin or butternut squash, I used sweet potatoes. It worked great and was a huge success at a holiday party. If you use sweet potatoes, peel them and cut into large chunks. Then boil them for approximately 15-20 minutes (until soft). Add all the butter and sugar (that you would have used to roast the pumpkin/butternut squash) to the other ingredients (cinnamon, ginger, salt, brandy, etc.) and mix together. Then proceed as directed in the provided recipe.

Worth noting, the pie took over an hour to cook (approximately 1 hour 20 minutes) for me. I actually had to wrap the pie in tin foil to protect the edges from burning and turn the heat up to 370 for a half an hour near the end to finally have it be more solid in the middle