Butterscotch Pie

At least 2 hours ahead, make the pie dough: Make and chill the pie crust dough through step 5 in either recipe. It needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before rolling out.

Roll out the chilled pie dough: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough. Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is completely smooth.

To make a lovely thick edge, do not trim excess dough around the edges. Instead, fold the excess dough back over the edge and use your hands to mold the edge into a rim around the pie. Crimp the edges with a fork or use your fingers to flute the edges. If dough is too warm, fluting/crimping will be difficult, so you can always chill it in the refrigerator for 5–10 minutes first.

After fluting/crimping the edges, chill the shaped pie crust in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, and up to 5 days. Cover the pie crust with plastic wrap if chilling for longer than 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

Blind bake the crust: Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges of the crust are starting to brown, about 15–16 minutes. Remove pie crust from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper (with the weights) out of the pie. Prick holes all over the bottom crust with a fork.

If desired for a shiny golden crust, brush egg wash on edges. Return pie crust to the oven and bake for 14–15 minutes, or until the bottom has browned. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack to cool before filling.

Make the butterscotch filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together dark brown sugar and cornstarch. Add in whole milk and egg yolks, and whisk until combined; try to rid any large brown sugar clumps.

Place granulated sugar and water in a medium or large stainless steel saucepan and cook over medium heat. Whisk or stir until the sugar and water are combined, and then stop stirring. Cook, picking up and swirling the pan occasionally, until the sugar mixture turns amber-brown, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Reduce the heat down to low. Pouring very slowly, whisk in a little of the heavy cream. Continue slowly pouring in the remaining heavy cream a little at a time, whisking constantly.

Once all of the heavy cream has been added and there are no more cooked sugar clumps, increase the heat back up to medium and whisk and cook the mixture for 2 minutes.

In a slow and steady stream, pour the brown sugar-egg yolk mixture into the saucepan, whisking the entire time. Keep whisking until the mixture thickens and large bubbles begin to burst on the surface, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in the butter, salt, vanilla, and alcohol (or more vanilla). Let the filling cool for 5 minutes, give it another whisk, and then spread it evenly into the baked pie shell.

Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.

When ready to serve, or up to 1 hour before serving, make the whipped cream: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, brown sugar, and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 3 minutes.

Pipe or spread the whipped cream on top of the pie. If desired, top with a few drizzles of salted caramel sauce.

Slice and serve. Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.