Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream and Pumpkin-Seed Brittle

Pie Pastry Shell: Prepare our Basic Pie Pastry . Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Freeze pie shell 15 minutes. Line shell with foil, covering rim. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 20 minutes, then remove foil and beans and bake 8 minutes more, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Filling: In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar. Add eggs and pumpkin and whisk until smooth. Add milk and molasses. Stir until well blended. Pour filling into pie shell. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, or until filling is just set. Cover edge of pie after 20 minutes if crust is overbrowning. Let cool completely on wire rack. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate to serve cold.

Pumpkin-Seed Brittle: Line a baking sheet with foil; butter foil. In a saucepan, cook sugar and water over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar melts and syrup is amber-colored. Stir in pumpkin seeds; cook 1 minute, stirring. Immediately pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet, spreading with a fork; cool completely. Break into pieces.

Maple Whipped Cream: In a bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat cream, maple syrup, and confectioners’ sugar until soft peaks form.

Garnish pie with whipped cream and brittle.