PIE

THANKSGIVING 2015

I made two pies this year for my two thanksgiving dinners; Pumpkin for my little sister's first Thanksgiving and Chocolate Bourbon Pecan for my parents' dinner, both used frozen pie shells - even though I have now been trained to make my own pastry,  seriously, who has the time?!

Pumpkin Pie

I found this recipe on CanadianLiving.com and adjusted it slightly based on what I could find in the store.  The recipe below originally called for a lot of spices and unfortunately, the store I went to did not carry ground ginger.  However, they did have "pumpkin spice" which includes ground ginger, as well as cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves (which the original recipe didn't call for, but I like cloves, so BONUS!).  

The original recipe also called for 1 and 3/4 cups (425 mL) pumpkin puree, but the only size at the store was 2 cups worth (500 mL ), so I used all of the can (why waste?) and then added a bit more pumpkin spice to compensate (about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon more), the yield ended up being a bit more than I needed for one pie, but luckily I usually keep a pack of frozen tart shells for mini quiches and such in my freezer, so I made 4-6 tarts as well as a pie. - here's the original recipe from CanadianLiving:

1 and 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt

...and here is my revised version (which was DELICIOUS by the way - AND saves you money on spices, 'cause you just need the "pumpkin spice" medley.

2 cups pumpkin puree (500 mL can)
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp Pumpkin Spice Medley (Ginger, Cloves, Nutmeg and Cinnamon blend) 
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

  1. In mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sugar, evaporated milk, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
  2. Pour into (raw) pie shell. 
  3. Bake in bottom third of 425°F (220°C) oven for 15 minutes. 
  4. Reduce temperature to 350°F (180°C); bake for 30 minutes longer or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean. 
  5. Let cool on rack.
  6. Serve with fresh whipping cream (optional)

Whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 tsp (1 mL) of vanilla extract

Method:

Add all ingredients to large metal mixing bowl and whisk until it forms stiff peaks ( I do this in my kitchen aid mixer now that I have one and it takes about 5 minutes)

Chocolate bourbon Pecan Pie

This was a request from my dad, so I tried my very best to make it.  It was tasty, but needs some work.  Original Recipe for this was found on Chatelaine.com.  Only edit I made was I used Jack Daniels Tennessee Sipping Whiskey instead of official "Boubon", it did the trick, trust me.

4 eggs
1 cup golden corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1 tbsp bourbon (Jack Daniels)
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup pecan pieces
1/3 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Whisk 4 eggs in a medium bowl. 
  2. Whisk in corn syrup, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, bourbon, vanilla and 1/8 tsp salt until combined. 
  3. Scatter pecans and chocolate chips on the bottom of the pie crust. 
  4. Pour filling evenly overtop.
  5. Bake in bottom third of oven, until edge of filling has set and centre is slightly jiggly, 55 min to 1 hour. 
  6. Cover with foil for the last 10 min, if browning too quickly. 
  7. Transfer to a rack to cool completely, 1 hour.

Learnings:  

  1. Pecans are bloody expensive at supermarkets - next time I'm hitting up a bulk bar for those puppies.  
  2. Next time I make this pie, instead of putting chocolate chunks throughout the pie, I'm just going to coat the bottom of the shell with a thin layer of melted dark chocolate to give it that pop of chocolatey flavour, but allow the filling to stay buttery and less chocolatey.  Should also help keep the crust together.