How to Improve Your Pumpkin Pie; or, Piestravaganza

I've done it, you guys. I know what's wrong with your pumpkin pie.

I know, I know. You're very proud of your pumpkin pie. You should be! It's delicious, after all. It's nothing but lightly caramelized squash full of spicy goodness. The thing is, you can do it better. You can almost always improve, and why wouldn't you? A few simple tweaks can turn a great dessert into the best dessert. Want to know what you've been doing wrong all this time? Want to make your pie the envy of your in-laws? Want something to hold over their stupid, smug heads for years to come? Click the link, dummy!

Very well. Your dedication has been tested and you have been found worthy of the ancient secrets of Pie. This is not a recipe, merely a way of thinking. Any of these changes can be applied to your existing pumpkin pie recipe without screwing anything up. The only thing that will change is the admiring stares of your extended family.

1. Use more egg yolk. Instead of two whole eggs for each pie, try an egg plus two egg yolks. The yolk contains all kinds of emulsifying, proteiny goodness to improve your pumpkin custard. They'll make your pumpkin pie filling richer, creamier, and they'll keep it from cracking on top.
2. Grate your own ginger and nutmeg. Trust me, it's worth it. Some spices (like cinnamon) don't lose too much when you get them pre-ground, but ginger and nutmeg do tend to oxidize more when you get the pre-ground ones. Most grocery stores will sell whole nutmeg in the spice aisle, though you may have to hunt a little more for whole ginger root (check the produce section of your local specialty supermarket).
3. Don't use allspice. Allspice has a flavor sort of like (but not exactly) cinnamon and nutmeg. When used on its own, you could (almost) replace cinnamon and nutmeg with allspice, but I prefer to play with the ratios myself. Definitely don't use cinnamon and allspice. Talk about overkill.
4. Use cloves. I've noticed a disturbing number of pumpkin pie recipes that completely skip cloves. They offer a slightly sweet, slightly smoky flavor which provides a great background for everything else going on. Ground cloves are fine, especially since whole cloves would be a pain in the ass to grind yourself.
5. Start baking at a high temp. Start around 425°F for the first 10-15 minutes, then drop the temp to around 350°F until the custard has set. This will brown the crust up nicely and ensure some tasty caramelization on the custard.
6. Don't put whipped cream on it. I'm going to catch some flak on this one, but I'm standing by it. There are plenty of better toppers out there. Try a vanilla mascarpone mousse (3 parts mascarpone cheese, 1 part créme fraîche, about 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 T. of your favorite vanilla) on top instead. The tanginess of the mascarpone mousse nicely offsets the sweetness of the pie. If that sounds like too much effort, specialty stores will sometimes have pre-sweetened vanilla créme fraîche that you can whip up very similarly to cream. You literally don't need to do anything to it besides whip it. The tang really comes from the créme fraîche anyway.

Go on, you pie warriors. Try this first, then tell me I'm wrong. As always, additional hints and tips are always welcome!