Another holiday season, another pumpkin pie recipe. This is an America Test Kitchen recipe and was sold as the best pumpkin pie ever. There are a couple of things that make this recipe different from the other ones on my site. First, it has canned candied yams and the second is that you have to precook the filling and then strain before baking. Because it has a more complex process I don’t know that I’ll make it as often as some of my other pumpkin pie recipes, but I will say that the result was a deliciously smooth, not-too-heavy pie.

• 1 9″ unbaked pie crust
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 large eggs plus 2 large yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup drained candied yams from 15-ounce can*
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup**
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 400° F. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and place rimmed baking sheet on the rack. Whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolks, and vanilla together in medium bowl, and set aside. Combine pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in large heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring to sputtering simmer over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in cream mixture until fully incorporated. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl, using back of ladle or spatula to press solids through strainer. Re-whisk mixture. Place pie crust in pie plate and carefully place plate on the preheated baking sheet. Pour the filling into the pie crust, and bake for 10 minutes at 400° F. Without taking the pie out of the oven, reduce the heat to 300° F, and continue baking until edges of pie are set (instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 175° F), 20 to 35 minutes longer. The center 2 inches of the pie should look firm but jiggle slightly; the pie finishes cooking with residual heat. Transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature and not in the refrigerator to ensure that the filling sets, 2 to 3 hours. Cut into wedges and serve at room temperature or chilled with whipped cream.

*If you can’t find candied yams, normal canned yams can be substituted

**I used honey instead of maple syrup and it was delicious