The Simple Ingredient Swap That Will Take Your Pumpkin Pie To The Next Level - Tasting Table

"Adding a bit of cocoa powder to your all-butter flaky pie crust creates the perfect chocolatey contrast to the custardy sweet pumpkin pie filling. Since cocoa powder will contribute to the dry ingredients in the pastry, you'll want to swap it for some of the flour (or add more ice water) to the mix so the pie crust bakes up nice and flaky - without drying it out."

"To add cocoa powder to make a chocolatey pumpkin pie crust, all you need to do is whisk in about 2 or 3 tablespoons of quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder, swapping it in for some of the flour in the recipe. Then, mix in salt and sugar before cutting in the butter and adding a bit of ice water and apple cider vinegar to form a dough."

Adding 2–3 tablespoons of Dutch-processed cocoa powder to an all-butter pie crust produces a chocolatey contrast to custardy pumpkin filling. Substitute the cocoa for part of the flour or add more ice water to keep the pastry flaky and prevent dryness. Incorporate salt and a couple tablespoons of sugar to balance cocoa's bitterness, then cut in butter and add ice water and apple cider vinegar to form dough. Par-bake the chocolate pastry crust before adding raw pumpkin filling to avoid a soggy bottom. Chocolate crusts hold up well to wet pumpkin filling and enhance the flavor pairing.

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