Pumpkin pie

Roll the pie dough about a quarter inch thick and transfer it into the pie dish.

Preheat the oven to 425 (400 for a pre-made crust).

Trim to about an inch of excess, fold the edge underneath for a thick edge, and crimp with the fingers or a fork.

Freeze the shell at least 20 minutes, until completely frozen.

Fold and cut a sheet of parchment into a frilled circle, line the frozen shell, and fill with dried beans or pie weights, or press in a shaped triple layer of foil so the sides do not sag.

Blind bake about 15 minutes, then remove the weights.

In one bowl whisk the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg, breaking up any lumps.

Add the pumpkin puree, then the three room-temperature eggs and the evaporated milk; whisk until silky smooth.

Optional: warm the filling in a pan or pot over medium-low to low heat, stirring occasionally, until warm to the touch and steaming, not boiling, about 100 degrees. Stirring also removes air bubbles.

Optional: brush the crust edge with an egg wash of egg and a tablespoon of milk or cream.

Pour the warm filling into the pie shell.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Reduce to 350 and bake until the center just jiggles softly, about 40 minutes. If the crust colours too much, tent with foil about half an hour into the bake.

Compared with an unwarmed filling baked alongside, the cold filling took 10 minutes longer and had a bumpier top; the taste was 'basically a tie'.