My turn to host took me by surprise--twice! I thought my turn to host would come on November second, so when Laurie emailed me asking me for a recipe pick for October, it was completely unexpected. I was also on vacation and did not have my recipe book with me.
Since I thought I'd be posting on election day, my number one choice was the All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie. Even though it was October, I still replied back "Apple Pie" since I couldn't remember a single other recipe I had chosen. Then I found out that someone else had chosen it (YAY!), so I had to call my husband and have him look through the book.
Luckily, I had left markings on the other recipes that I wanted to try that were seasonally appropriate. I was hoping that the Caramel Pumpkin Pie would be something worthy of the Thanksgiving table. I remember making Dorie's Favorite Pecan Pie and thinking that the addition of chocolate would ruin the wonderful flavor of the pie, but boy was I wrong. It was so delicious that I decided to making my standard recipe for pecan. I was hoping to have the same luck with this recipe.
Last Saturday, I checked TWD to see what recipe was next. To my surprise (again) it was mine. For some reason I thought I had another week before hosting. So, long story short, I ended up making this pie (twice) on Monday.
The first attempt at this pie was foiled by the caramel. I was trying hard to follow Dorie's directions of letting the caramel get dark, and dramatically smoke as she describes. When I tasted caramel, it tasted a bit burnt to me although not "black" as Dorie describes burnt caramel to be. So I went ahead and mixed it in. Big mistake. Although it was good enough for me to eat an entire slice I just didn't love it. Also, without the addition of the streusel (found in the playing around section), I really didn't like it.
If it had been anyone else's pick, I would have chalked it up to a learning experience and posted it as it turned out. But this was my turn. How can the host have a failure of a pie? I also found the crust to be too brown for my taste, and so I decided to make another pie. This time with better caramel and without partially baking the crust before baking the pie. After all, my mother never pre-baked a crust.
So how did it turn out? Worthy of a Thanksgiving dinner! I am so glad I went through the effort of making it twice. In conclusion, I'd like to leave you with the following tips:
1) When making the caramel, don't let it get very dark no matter what the instructions make you think!
2) Make sure the cream is room temperature before pouring it into the caramel. Dorie says the clumps will melt out, but mine didn't. I picked them out. It was easier the first time when I used warmer cream.
3) Don't partially bake the crust. It takes a lot longer and it gets pretty dark--even with foil.
4) Both times I had to bake the pie about 20 minutes longer than directed.
5) After reading several posts by other TWD members, I have to add this tip: consider use the cider-- especially if you don't like "boozy" desserts as one baker put it (that made me chuckle). I never use alcohol so I automatically used the cider. I honestly don't know what kind of effect 2T of rum would have on the pie, but it sounds like it may be overpowering.
Thanks for baking along! I hope you all enjoyed it. For those of you who will soon be celebrating T-day, I hope you found something interesting, new, and worthy of your Thanksgiving dinner!
First time with streusel:
Second time without streusel:
1-9 inch single crust made with Good
for Almost Everything Pie Dough
partially baked and cooled
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 T dark rum, cognac or
apple cider
2 T unsalted butter, cut
into 4 pieces
1 cup cunned unsweetened pumpkin
puree
1 1/4 t ground cinnamon
3/4 t ground ginger
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Tiny pinch of ground allspice
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving
Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the sugar evenly over the bottom of a large nonstick skillet.
Place the skillet over medium-high heat and, staying close by, cook until the sugar melts and starts to color. Once you see a little color, gently swirl the skillet so that the sugar colors evenly. Cook the sugar, without stirring, until it turns deep amber--almost mahogany. The sugar will bubble up and foam and soon it will start to smoke. It is very dramatic, and it might make you think you've gone too far, but you want a dark (though not burned black) color; the darker the sugar, the fuller the flavor.
My advice: don't let it get dramatic.
When the bubbles have gone from foamy to big and fat, you will probably have reached the right color. To check the color, drop a bit of the caramelized sugar on a white plate.
Lower the heat to medium, stand back and pour the cream into the skillet. The sugar will bubble and hiss and, if the cream was cold, it may even clump. Just continue to cook, stirring and it will even out. Add the cider and butter and cook just until the caramel is smooth. pour the caramel into a heatproof pitcher or bowl and cool it for about 15 minutes.
Working with a whisk in a large bowl, beat the pumpkin to break it up and smooth it. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat to blend. Whisk in the spices, salt vanilla and eggs, beating until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the caramel. Rap the bowl against the counter a few times to de-bubble the filling, then pour the filling into the crust.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is puffed and set--tap the pan gently and the filling won't jiggle. A thin knife inserted into the center of the pie will come out clean. it will also leave a gash in the filling, but you'll be covering it with whipped cream.
Transfer the pie to a rack and cool to room temperature, or cool and refrigerate (see Serving). When you are ready to serve, spread the lightly whipped cream over the top of the pie. If you'd like a dressier look, whip the cream until it is firm, put it into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe rosettes over the surface of the pie. Alternatively, you can pipe the cream in a lattice pattern.
