There are generally one of two reasons why a pie has only a bottom crust: 1) the crust needs to be blind baked, or prebaked, before the filling is added, so that it cooks thoroughly and is neither doughy nor soggy. You can't practically blind-bake a 2-crust pie; or 2) the pie would be too dry with twice as much crust. You generally don't blind-bake a pumpkin pie crust, so reason 1 is out. We think a pumpkin pie with crust above and below would just be a little too dry in the mouth for most people's tastes. We suppose another reason is that you generally insert a knife into a pumpkin pie to test whether or not the filling is done, and a top crust makes the test impractical.

That certainly doesn't mean you can't do it, however. You could simply add a top crust and hope that the pie sets properly within the recommended cooking time. You could also add a lattice top crust, which would be like a pie with 1-2/3rds crusts, and which would not impede your testing to determine that the filling is cooked through.

Another option comes from Shirley Corriher, author of Cookwise (Canada, UK). She says for any crust that you normally would blind bake, you can prepare a separate top crust or "a large decorative pattern of crust" that you bake separately and place on the pie when it is done, to give "the illusion of the traditional double-crust pie." If you're feeling particularly creative, you could make a beautiful pattern of leaves, nuts, berries, and small woodland creatures to decorate the top of your pie.

Whatever route you choose, your husband can have his extra crust. And we would just add more whipped cream on top if we thought it tasted dry (but then, that's our solution to many cooking problems).

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