After a successful attempt was completed at making pumpkin pie from scratch, I felt the need to improve the end results.
The first pies were great tasting but from a purely aesthetic perspective left much to be desired. I reviewed the recipes I had used to make the original batch and found what I think will be the biggest potential for improvement. The pre-making of the pie crusts was not done very well my first go-round. See here: http://norcalwingman.com/2013/11/24/yeah-i-want-pie/
Here are the two sources I have been using for my pies: These can be found on my (ahem, hate to say I even have one, pinterest pages http://www.pinterest.com/norcalwingman/food-for-thought/)
http://www.momswhothink.com/pie-recipes/homemade-fresh-pumpkin-pie-recipe.html (this is the base pumpkin pie recipe, but I’ve modified it to suite my tastes, see below for mods)
and the crust http://www.momswhothink.com/pie-recipes/pie-crust-recipe.html I’ve used the non-shortening “butter” recipe. I prepared two crusts following very closely the recipe here.
— Sadly, as the interwebs go, my source links are dead. I’ll see if I can track down suitable replacements.
Looking better this time:
I used fresh pureed pumpkin from a cinderella pumpkin we got around Halloween, you can follow the directions for preparation on the pumpkin pie recipe page I mentioned above.
Anyhow, let’s get to the details. After receiving shining praise from the normally non-pumpkin-pie-eating members of the family and others, I decided to remake the pie as I did the first time, here’s the recipe (based on recipe above, I’ve doubled it for 2 pies):
Ingredients:
2 pastry crusts
4 large eggs
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup of Clover Stornetta Egg Nog
2 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin puree (instructions below)
4 Tablespoons melted butter, unsalted
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoon dark molasses
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch salt
1 cup heavy cream, cold (for whip cream topping
1/2 fl oz of your favorite bourbon
or
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Heat milk, cream and egg nog in saucepan over medium heat until it just starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat.
3. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl until frothy. Add scalded milk, cream and egg nog, stirring constantly.
4. Stir in pumpkin, butter, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Whisk until thoroughly blended.
5. Pour filling into prepared crust, bake until center is firm, about 45 minutes. (After 45 minutes I’ve found that at least with my oven I need to keep cooking another 10 minutes, so my recommendation is to go the 45 minutes then keep a close eye on your pies for proper firmness, these went about 52 minutes)
6. Cool completely on wire rack.
7. Whip cream and bourbon/vanilla extract until firm peaks form, use generously on large slice of pie
8. Eat, enjoy
Norcal Wingman 