Pumpkin Pie!

[amccomb]

So, I've always used the recipe on the Libby's canned pumpkin. It tastes ok, just like every other pumpkin pie. What I want to do this year, though, is something different. Nothing TOO different that people are going to freak out about, but something that's gonna make people say Wow, this is a GREAT pumpkin pie. So, still fairly traditional, but with a secret something that really makes it stand out.

Any ideas?

[jackal10]

Leave out the pumpkin.

Its really only a filler, just make an intense pumpkin spice flavoured brown custard pie...

[Ling]

You could serve it with candied nuts and a spiced whipped cream. Or maybe add some chopped candied ginger to your recipe? Swirl of caramel on the plate? Sub in half and half for a richer custard? Up the spices (particularly the cinnamon?) Do a pastry-leaf border?

Edited October 17, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

I add bourbon ... works beautifully ... seems to add a deeper flavor ...

[sazji]

Try another type of squash might be something to try as well; pumpkins are after all a squash. Here we don't have American-style pumpkins but rather big gray mutant-looking things, with a very fine-grained, rich tasting flesh similar to a hubbard (pictured below). It makes a wonderful pie, and you also don't have all the extra water of a pumpkin to deal with. I'd think a good hubbard would work.

The bourbon sounds like a wonderful idea too....

<img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b60/sazji/MVC-072S.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Edited October 17, 2005 by sazji (log)

[schnitzel]

Pumpkin Praline Pie is wondeful and I use roasted butternut squash purée instead of canned pumpkin.

[ludja]

I add bourbon ... works beautifully ... seems to add a deeper flavor ...

←

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I actually switched to a sweet potatoe pie several years ago. The recipe (from "Bill Neal's Southern Cooking") has bourbon in it as well and as GG mentions, it adds a deep, rich flavor. This recipe also has a wonderful pecan streusal topping which could also be replicated on a pumpkin pie. The eggs are separated in this recipe so it also has a great texture.

I'm not sure it would supplant the aforementioned sweet potato pie which has really become a favorite, but I've also been meaning to try recipes I've seen for French pumpkin tarts. Some of them have creme fraiche, lemon or orange and vanilla as flavorings. Some places to look are Loomis' "French Farmhouse Cooking" or Gavin's "French Vegetarian Cooking".

[sparrowgrass]

Not really pie, but one year I bought a little pumpkin for each serving, hollowed them out, and filled them with the pumpkin filling (from the back of the Libby can). I baked them til the filling was done, and decorated with whipped cream and some pastry leaves.

[BarbaraY]

I like to flavor my pumkin pies with some brandy although I'm sure whiskey would taste good, too. Hate the evaporated milk taste and texture so I use 1/2 and 1/2. One year I made little marzipan pumpkins for garnish.

[jgarner53]

I use cream, a ton of spices, maple syrup, and molasses in mine.

[Trishiad]

I make the pumpkin cheesecake pie with cornmeal crust from Epicurious.com

[middydd]

My favourite is the Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Streusel from Epicurious. I add a couple of tablespoons of brandy to the filling.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/818

[chefcyn]

My favorite is from Rose Levy Berenbaum's(sp?) Pie and Pastry Bible--she makes a cream cheese crust, and there's a layer of ground gingersnaps in the bottom before putting the filling in--very YUM! Best and easiest Pumpkin Pie I've made (I like the addition of a little bourbon, too--it does add a certain something). I also change the spices because we don't like it too strong, I leave out the cloves and use a little less of everything else, the gingersnaps add enough ginger flavor, too.

[Gwhit]

Hello. I made the Pumpkin Streusel Tart from the Fine Cooking Magazing for our Canadian Thanksgiving and it was very good. It also had bourbon in it. The recipe may be on their website. It calls for a 10" pan but I only have a 9" and 11" so used the 11" and it worked out very well. It sounds like it might be similar to the recipe mentioned above from the Epicurous.

Gayle

[Shelley G.]

First, I roast a little pie pumpkin - the variety I like is called "Sugar Pie". Cut in in half, and roast for about 35 min. One pumpkin usually makes one lovely deep dish pie. After cooling and removing the seeds, I puree the flesh and allow to sit in a sieve for at least an hour (overnight is fine). The texture is entirely different from tinned pumpkin, much silkier. I too am a fan of a wee bit of bourbon, and I use a little cumin in addition to the usual cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice and cardamom. The customers at the restaurant start making soulful requests for it in September, but we all have to wait for those Sugar Pie pumpkins.

[designerobsessed]

When it comes to pumpkin pie I prefer traditional so I make my mother's recipe, which came from my aunt & previously from her mother so it's pretty old. It's custardy with eggs, whole milk, melted butter, sugar and spices, but not heavy spice-that's why I love it. But I'm sure a splash or two of Makers Mark added would be nice!!

[andiesenji]

You can make a layered pie, finely chopped pecans cooked in maple syrup until thick, spread in a very thin layer on the bottom crust, followed by a layer of your favorite pumpkin pie, then topped with a layer of egg custard flavored with a sweet sherry or brandy or rum if you wish. (If you can find it, Savory & James Cream Sherry is very smooth and excellent in this type of recipe.)

This is pretty, tasty and the combination of flavors complement each other beautifully.

I use one of the Emile Henry rectangular baking dishes and make the same amount of pie dough I would use for a top and bottom crust pie to line the bottom and sides of the baking dish.

Edited October 19, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[ada]

The best pumpkin pie that I have ever made was from the "Greene on Greens" cookbook. It's pretty simple, and you can used canned pumpkin if you wish.

It's from a cookbook that I have for over twenty years. You can get it for as low as $1.00 on Amazon. It's been a long time since I've made it, perhaps I'll bake one this weekend.

If you want the recipe, I can email it to you.

[avocado]

It is a complete departure from traditional pumpkin pie, but the best pumpkin dessert I've ever had was made up of a thin layer of flourless chocolate cake acting as a "crust" with a spicy pumpkin mousse on top. I think chocolate and pumpkin/spice is a fabulous combination.

[PPX]

Years ago I came across a recipe which called for pureeing a ripe banana along w/ the pumpkin. This added a lovely sweet fruity note, but nobody knew it was in there. The ingredients included dark rum as well as traditional spices. I remember that it was a huge hit during a late autumn dinner. I think the recipe came from a Dorie Greenspan book......

[misstenacity]

Has anyone tried a pie (or more technically a tart?) using a crust with ALL cornmeal? My "spin" on Thanksgiving this year is to use all native North American ingredients - so no wheat flour.

Other grains that are available.... wild rice? Hmmm.

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

[Steven Blaski]

Has anyone tried a pie (or more technically a tart?) using a crust with ALL cornmeal?  My "spin" on Thanksgiving this year is to use all native North American ingredients - so no wheat flour.

Other grains that are available.... wild rice?  Hmmm.

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

←

How about a nut crust for your pumpkin pie? Pecans, for instance, are only indigenous to the U.S. You could just grind up some pecans with some sugar and a bit of melted butter, press it into a springform pan, and blind bake it first before adding the pie filling.

ETA: I just noticed you're from New Mexico: how about a piñon nut crust to make it really local?

Edited November 13, 2005 by Steven Blaski (log)

[JSD]

I'm planning on using a pumpkin pie recipe from Julia Child's The Way to Cook which calls for either bourbon or rum. Generally, when I'm trying a recipe for the first time I like to follow it pretty closely. However, we have no bourbon, some rum which is pretty old and has almost no smell, and some Jack Daniel's which smells very, very, very good, but is not bourbon. Should I use the Jack Daniel's, the weak smelling rum, or go buy either bourbon or a new bottle of rum? If you think I should buy more rum or some bourbon, what kind would you recommend?

[Steven Blaski]

I'm planning on using a pumpkin pie recipe from Julia Child's The Way to Cook which calls for either bourbon or rum.  Generally, when I'm trying a recipe for the first time I like to follow it pretty closely.  However, we have no bourbon, some rum which is pretty old and has almost no smell, and some Jack Daniel's which smells very, very, very good, but is not bourbon. Should I use the Jack Daniel's, the weak smelling rum, or go buy either bourbon or a new bottle of rum?  If you think I should buy more rum or some bourbon, what kind would you recommend?

←

Jack Daniels would be fine -- definitely better than a weak-tasting rum. By the way, I've made Julia's pumpkin pie in The Way to Cook and it's really good. But I recommend two tweakings, even though you say want to follow her recipe closely--you'll keep her same ingredients, this is just a technique flourish:

1. cook the pumpkin, sugar, spices and salt mixture for 3 to 5 minutes in a medium saucepan till it's hot and shiny. This mellows the flavors of the spices and removes any tinny off-odors from the canned pumpkin.

2. after cooking the pumpkin mixture, scrape it into a food processor and give it a nice long buzz. Then with the motor on, add the cream and milk, and the eggs (or just yolks in her recipe, she folds in whipped whites at the end) and process all till very smooth. This makes the filling extremely silky!

These two techniques were introduced by Stephen Schmidt in Cook's Illustrated back in 1993 (he says he got the cooking the pumpkin idea from cookbooks author Marcia Adams). Rose Levy Berenbaum also recommends these two techniques. For her recipe (which details the two techniques above), she's posted it on one of her websites:

Great Pumpkin Pie

Edited November 19, 2005 by Steven Blaski (log)

[cookman]

I top the traditional pumpkin pie with a mousse of whipped cream, a bit of gelatin to stabilize it, ginger-flavored liqueur, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice. Yum!