Dark Pumpkin Pie

This recipe is from my maternal grandmother, and is the only pumpkin pie we eat in our family. It is a dark brown because it isn't made with evaporated milk or cream. I have never seen another pumpkin pie like this, but don't know its history. My grandmother grew up in a small town of German immigrants in Texas.

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 6-8
• Yields: 1 9inch pie

Ingredients

• 2  large eggs
• 2  cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1  cup sugar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon clove
• 1  cup  scalded milk
• 1  unbaked pie shell (lower crust only)

Directions

1. Break eggs into a small bowl and mix, so that the yolks and whites are well combined.
2. Mix together the pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a separate, larger bowl.
3. Scald milk (that is, heat until very hot, but not boiling), and stir the hot milk, and then the eggs, into the pumpkin mixture.
4. Pour into a pie pan lined with the unbaked pie shell.
5. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes at 350°F, until a table knife inserted at a point between the center and the edge of the pie, comes out clean.
6. Please begin checking slightly before the 40 minute point.
7. Note: Although this recipe calls for 2 cups pumpkin, we have always made it with a 16 oz can of pumpkin puree, which actually is a little more; the cans I have seen lately contain 15 oz, and I don't know how this will affect the pie.