A Lesson in Pumpkin Pie

With all this pumpkin tasting going on I thought it would be appropriate to share some recipes of mine for my most revered pumpkin creations. This first one is very dear to my heart in that I actually put it to the test by doing my own pumpkin pie throw down comparing fine cooking, bobby flay, bon appetit, and libby's pumpkin pie recipe. After all the pies were made an my team of judges placed their votes I ended up making my own recipe which I believe is the best pumpkin pie recipe to date.

So here is the recipe, perhaps it will make it's way to your family's table this holiday season.


Libby's on Left, Heavenly Pumpkin Pie on the Right

 The BEST Pumpkin Pie.

Filling:

15 oz pumpkin puree
½ c dark brown sugar
2 T granulated sugar
1 T corn syrup (or light molasses)
1 T flour
1 ½ t cinnamon
¾ t ginger
¼ t cloves
¾ t pumpkin pie spice
¼ t salt
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
½ vanilla bean split, seeds scraped (optional)

1 ¼ c heavy cream

Crust:

Pick your favorite recipe or go with the store bought kind. Crust is always a challenge for me so it's not fair for me to include a "best" crust recipe when I simply do not have one. Vodka and super chilled butter and butter/shortening combinations all seem to add something different but it really depends on your preference and effort you feel like putting in.

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. When mixed pour into a fine mesh sieve and strain (I swear this makes a difference and gives the pie an incredibly smooth texture that is reminiscent of flan and other ridiculously delicious custard desserts. Do not leave this part out, if you don't have a find mesh sieve then go get one, it's worth it.

Pour strained ingredients into pie crust and bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350-325 and bake for another 40-50 minutes until jiggling in the center is more like set Jell-O than liquid sloshing*. Let cool for 3-4 hours then dive in.

Notes:

*On bake time, custard pies will crack if over baked and should be taken out just before you think they're done, you know, like a good cookie should be. It will continue to bake a bit more and set up as it cools and it's nice to have a pretty pie. Other things I've found to help this are using a ceramic pie plate or a hot water bath and glass pie plate.

**The heavy cream can be part half and half or hearty milk but of course the cream is super rich and yummy. The spices can be flexible. If you don't have dark brown sugar, use molasses, if you do have dark brown sugar, use corn syrup.

time. to. CELEBRATE!

Thanksgiving is coming and what a time to be thankful! Life has been fraught with intensity the past week; I suppose for me that is about par for the course. We had six exams, some standard and other comprehensive for 10 week courses, with a pending week long break to follow and to say it was “stressful,” is a mild description.

With the potential for incredible turmoil it actually worked out quite well and ended up being a fabulous day. The last exam today went very well (similar to the previous five) and we all met up for breakfast afterwards. Breakfast was delicious, I’ll have to yelp the Canadian Honkers praises later, and the bloody mary was quite fitting for the wrap up of hematology. After breakfast I made it home to do some laundry and put my life back together and ended up having a lovely conversation with the folks at my leasing office, despite the shitty factor of neighbors, barking dogs, and sad excuses for air circulation and safety here, they are really quite wonderful.

Somewhere in there my friend called and said she would like to be my roommate which is a HUGE relief 1. Financially, and 2. To know that I will be living with such an incredible girl; she really is fantastic. So with laundry done, tests done and a roommate I headed out for some shopping! I bought some dishes at Kohl’s:

How cute are my new dishes?!

and caught up with an old friend I'm seeing for thanksgiving while I shopped. After that I swung by Apollo to visit with a friend and came home for some venison, vino, and du chocolate:


Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon and Godiva Peppermint Chocolate



and now I am indugling in these and enjoying some Bette Midler in That old Feeling.

Happy Friday and Happy Thanksgiving week.

I am thankful for:

1. friends who end up as roommates.
2. good exam grades
3. a job I love and now do not need.
4. pumpkin.
5. Houge winergy
6. Chocolate
7. Venison (oh my goodness, how have I not discovered the deliciousness of this meat before?!)
8. Break. and Friends.
9. and more :)

Review: Pumpkin Hershey's Kiss

The pumpkin sampling continues! This, I have to confess was not a legitimate commercial pumpkin tasting. I happened to be at the store and there was a demo booth with some samples and this happened to be one of them and I went for it. Nonetheless, I think it merits a review so possibly someone out there will know the answer that inevitable question that will arise this holiday season, “to buy the chocolate or not to buy the chocolate?”

(I’ll have you know that I left the store, and did not give into my dark chocolate craving. When I left I realized that I forgot something and had to go back to the store later; the chocolate craving struck again. This time I actually pulled the chocolate bar off the shelf, schlepped it around the store with me for all too long, and ended up leaving it “accidentally” on the counter while waiting at the register. Worst. Mistake. Ever.

The lesson: always. always buy the chocolate bar.)

That being said, I’ll introduce the next victim: Hershey's Pumpkin Kisses:

The kisses are not too bad. They have a much softer taste than I expected: creamy, smooth pumpkin, with a nonabrasive spice. It was not chocolate par-se, if anything it had more of a white chocolate thing going on which I don’t categorize with true, deep, dark, passionate, chocolate awesomeness that real chocolate is, but it was quite yummy. As far as my pumpkin tasting goes I think Hersey’s actually did a good job at capturing a harvest custard dessert in a solid foil wrapped candy form. It has the right texture, a suitable pumpkin flavor, and was not overwhelmed with inappropriate spice like so many other seasonal foodstuffs are these days. I did not necessarily want another one, but I also did not regret the sampling.

My recommendations for the kisses are if you purchase them, have one or two, put a few in a bowl for guest to snack on when they come over and know you will be able to resist most of the time. The rest of the bag could be used to make some incredible snickerdoodle blossoms.

mmm...mmm... gooooood...

P.S. who else cannot get enough cinnamon lately? holy moley.

Tuesday.

Review: Coldstone's Pumpkin Ice Cream

The commercial pumpkin product sampling continues. This week's victim: Coldstone Creamery's Pumpkin Ice Cream




Let me just go right out and say it. I love ice cream. and I love pumpkin. I my body needs them like it needs oxygen. Are you understanding my situation? Okay. Good.

So I dove on in and went with an incredible ice cream company to see how their harvest pumpkin creation of the season stacked up against the rest. I got the pumpkin ice cream on half and cinnamon on the other with graham cracker pie crust on top (this is similar to my Dairy Queen visit you might notice. Sometimes crunch is important). Overall the ice cream was not bad. It did live up to the Coldstone name and provide a lusciously smooth creamy texture and full depth of flavor. I was happy that I got the cinnamon along side as a sort of palate cleanser; cinnamon is an important antioxidant you know. The pumpkin flavor is not bad, I did notice an orange background that I do not believe is appropriate with pumpkin (harvest season, yes, pumpkin, no) and a certain attempt at spiciness that every franchise I stop by seems to be striving for and just not getting. After a few bites I found myself enjoying the tasts that included cinnamon in them more and the pumpkin less and less. In summary, Coldstone's pumpkin ice cream is in fact good ice cream; it is not, however, an quencher of true pumpkin satisfaction.

The highs:
- Darn Good ice cream: creamy, smooth, luscious. Oh lordy.
- The Cinnamon ice cream.

The lows:
- Keep trying Coldstone. Pumpkin means pumpkin. Not orange. Not spices.

Lastly, I do want to note that even though I was seeking out pumpkin in this endeavor and it did not meet my expectations, the cinnamon ice cream completely did and I would recommend it to anyone. Heck, get a pint and take it home. Have it with some apple pie and let your world be changed; or do this with it:


Here's a few recipes on foodgawker.