Pumpkin Pie with Espresso Cream Cheese Swirl

Pumpkin pie is an all-time holiday dessert classic, but maybe it’s time for a glow up. For Thanksgiving this year, Cookdap challenged 5 of our favorite bakers to upgrade our basic pumpkin pie recipe. The rules? The base ingredients needed to stay the same, and the bakers could only use five additional ingredients for their upgrade. Check out the rest of the pumpkin pie recipes from our challenge, here.

When I set out to invent a twist on the classic pumpkin pie, my mind immediately went to a fall classic, the pumpkin spice latte. While I can't say that I've ever actually had a pumpkin spice latte, the scent of warm fall spices and coffee sounded so inviting that I had to give it a try.

First, I had to figure out the best way to approach combining the flavors of warmly spiced pumpkin custard and rich coffee. I started by adding a little bit more pumpkin spice to the pumpkin mixture so the filling could stand up to the coffee flavor. I have my own house blend of pumpkin spice that includes cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and cardamom, but any pumpkin spice blend is welcome here.

Once the filling was perfectly spiced, it was time to add that creamy coffee flavor. I contemplated adding a coffee-infused whipped cream to the pie, but that didn't seem quite right. I landed on a dreamy cream cheese swirl, just barely sweetened and spiked with enough espresso powder that it tasted like a milky cup of joe without being totally bitter. It's also super easy to make: All you need to do is whisk up cream cheese with a little sugar, an egg yolk, and espresso powder then swirl that into the pumpkin filling. The extra spice in the pie and the slightly bitter coffee complement each other so well and make this a pie a true holiday star.