Home Sweet Home...and Pie

Home sweet home. I finally picked a day to drive to Minnesota that was not smack dab in the middle of a snowstorm. The past few years for Christmas and Thanksgiving, whenever i decide to make the drive, old man winter decides to throw a ridiculous snowstorm at me. I am not sure what he has against me going home, but I showed him this year. Though, it was intensely sunny and when I opened up my sunglasses case, one of the screws was missing, so I spent the entire 7 hour drive squinting into the setting sun....I can't win.

It is wonderful to be home, I am sitting in my pj's, dad cooked me truffled eggs for breakfast, we are bracing for the storm of the century, and the smells of thanksgiving dinner are beginning to waft through the house. Onions caramelizing, sage frying, homemade turkey broth bubbling, it all has me salivating for tomorrow's feast. It is just a lovely way to start the day.

Are you ready for thanksgiving? Is all your shopping done, and food prepped? The nice thing about coming home is that all I have to do is drink wine and chop/stir/plate where needed. I already had my effort-heavy thanksgiving meal last weekend, so this time around I just get to kick back and enjoy it. I was in charge of dessert last weekend, and, though most of us were too full by the time we got there, it was a tasty ending to a fun and friend-filled day.

I made this pumpkin pie from the Thanksgiving Bon Apetit Magazine, substituting my very favorite pate brisee crust. It is a beautiful twist on the plain whipped-cream topped pumpkin pie we are used to seeing around this time of year. Toasted nuts with crystallized ginger creates a pretty border and adds that crunchy extra-something to the creamy pie and buttery crust.

Pumpkin Pie with Glaze Ginger-Nut Topping
adapted from Bon Apetit Magazine

1/2 batch pate brisee (or pie crust of your choice), rolled out to 1/4 inch thick disc and chilled

Topping:

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons pepitas
2 tablespoons brown sugar
large pinch of salt
2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger

Filling:

1 - 15 ounce can pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Transfer crust to a 9-inch pie pan, pressing the dough into the corners. Cut off excess dough, and crimp edges with thumbs. Freeze for 1 hour before baking.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat the butter over medium high heat. Add almonds, pecans, and pepitas and saute until nuts begin to brown slightly, just about 2 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar and salt over and stir and cook another 2 minutes, until sugar has melted and nuts have been coated. remove from heat and stir in ginger. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, with rack in center position. Line the pie crust with tin foil, and fill with pie weights, rice, or dried beans. Bake crust for 25 minutes, remove weights and tin foil, and bake for another 8 minutes. Remove crust from oven, but leave the oven on.

While the crust is blind baking, in a large bowl combine the pumpkin, both sugars, molasses, flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Whisk together until combined. Add the eggs, yolk, and cream. Whisk until smooth.

Pour filling into warm crust and bake for 20 minutes. remove pie from oven, and wrap strips of foil gently around the exposed crust to prevent it from becoming too dark and/or burning. Return to oven and bake for another 40-55 minutes, depending on how deep your pie pan is. Mine is very deep so it took close to 55 minutes for middle to set. It may still jiggle a bit in the center, but if you touch the center with your finger, and it is tacky, but not liquid-y, the pie should be good to go.

Transfer to pie rack and sprinkle the nut topping around the perimeter of the filling, leaving a circle in the center exposed.

Pumpkin Tartlets + A Giveaway!

** First and foremost, don't forget to enter the giveaway for a $45.00 CSN Stores gift certificate HERE. Just leave a comment on the linked post to enter before this Friday (11/12) at midnight! **

The Thanksgiving season has officially arrived. As of now, I have  four Thanksgiving celebrations to attend this November, and checked one of them off the list this past weekend. The hosts of the party were nice enough to provide the main meal, and just asked guest to bring a dessert and drinks. There ended up being about 20 different desserts at a party that had about 30 people at it, but somehow I managed to be the only one that brought some sort of pumpkin pie. What is thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?



I confess I am not really that into pumpkin pie, but it is just one of those things that has to be there on the table at the end of the meal. It's tradition! It's iconic! It's like the much neglected cranberry sauce, Thanksgiving just wouldn't be right without it.



This is a pretty standard, no frills pumpkin pie. I used my now-favorite pate brisee recipe for the crust, and Paula Deen's recipe for the filling (surprisingly it only has 1/2 stick of butter in it! Well the filling at least). Oh yes, and of course I made them miniature, I couldn't help myself. I liked them this way because there was a higher crust-to-filling ratio than a full sized pie. If you are one of those people that typically eats all the filling out of the pie and leaves the crust behind (not that there is anything wrong with that) this may not be the recipe for you.

 

Pumpkin Pie Tartlets
adapted from Food Network and Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook
Makes about 24 3 1/2 inch tartlets

1 batch pate brisee, rolled out to 1/8 inch thick sheets and chilled (see recipe here)
1 cup pumkpin puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, beaten
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 stick of butter (2 tablespoons) melted
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Using a 4 inch round cutter, cut 20-24 circles out of your pre-rolled pate brisee. Line each one of your tarts shells with one of the circles, being careful not to stretch the dough. Freeze lined tart shells for at least 20 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt and beat again until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and yolk, butter, half and half, and beat until combined. Add the vanilla, ginger, and cinnamon and beat just until incorporated.

Line tart shells with tin foil and fill with pie weights (I use beans or rice, whatever I have on hand). Par-bake your shells for about 10-12 minutes until they are just barely starting to brown and have dried out a bit.

Remove from oven, and take out the pie weights and tin foil and add a large spoonfull of the filling into each tart. Reduce oven heat to 350 F and bake for 40-45 minutes, until filling has set and the crust turns a golden brown.

Let cool completely on wire racks before un-molding from tart pans. Serve with fresh whipped cream, or nothing at all.


Here's to many more thanksgiving feasts to come!

And Now For Something Completely Different.

Okay, not completely different (I may have been watching a leeetle too much Monty Python as of late). But it is definitely on the opposite side of the spectrum than the other dessert I made for the bridal shower I attended this weekend, the chocolate raspberry truffle tart. While the chocolate tart was deep, rich, thick, and gooey, this lime coconut macadamia pie is light, citrus-y, tart, and refreshing. This is my kind of dessert, not too rich, with bright flavors and a crumbly, not-too-sweet crust.

It is also extremely easy to put together when you make the original 9-inch round pie. Unfortunately when I transferred it into individual tart form, they didn't hold up very well. The filling soaked into the crust, softening it too much to stand on its own. When I tried to lift them off the pan, I ended up with little lime pie piles. They still tasted incredible, but weren't so pretty, especially sitting next to the cute little pink-ribbon embellished chocolate tarts.

I have made this recipe many times before in a 9-inch pie tin and it works beautifully. The key is keeping the pie or tart in a vessel so it will stay intact when the crust softens. I plan on trying these out again with more of a pie-type crust, because they are so delicious, and would be perfect for a summer party.

Coconut Macadamia Lime Tarts

recipe from epicurious.com

For the crust:
35 vanilla wafer cookies (about 5 ounces)
1/3 cup dry-roasted macadamia nuts (about 2 ounces)
1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
1 15-ounce can cream of coconut (such as Coco López, look in the liquor department)
2/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
3 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

To finish:
3/4 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 lime, thinly sliced into rounds
Additional powdered sugar

In a food processor, pulse the vanilla wafers and macadamia nuts until finely ground. Add the coconut and pulse a few times just to chop a bit. Pour mixture into medium bowl and mix in the melted butter, stirring to incorporate evenly. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan (or 5 inch tartlet pans if you feel like living on the edge) and bake for about 20 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Pour three tablespoons cold water into a small metal bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, until the gelatin has softened. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the cream of coconut, lime juice, and lime zest and set aside.

Place the bowl with the gelatin over a small saucepan of simmering water, and whisk until gelatin has dissolved into the water. Whisk gelatin into the cream of coconut mixture, and pour into prepared crust.

Chill for at least 4 hours, until filling has set.

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, whisk the whipping cream and powdered sugar on medium-might speed until light and fluffy and stiff peaks form. Spoon or pipe onto pie, and garnish with lime slices. Then try not to eat the entire pie in one sitting.

I think I am going to go dig a lime macadamia nut pie pile out of the fridge right now...