When Chris and I picked out our pumpkin for Halloween, I noticed "pie pumpkins" for sale at the farm we were on. I already knew I would be bringing dessert to my parents house for Thanksgiving so I decided to give it a try with the real thing.
I used a filling recipe that was meant to be organic and called for raw sugar, but it held up well under my substitutions of everyday ingredients and white sugar. I used a standard pie crust recipe and added cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of ground fig to the dry ingredients before adding the butter and water.
I learned a few things from this one. First, pie crust has to be cold if you don't want to struggle with it falling apart, and even then flour is your best friend to keep things from sticking. I'm an incredibly impatient person, but after one failed attempt with warm dough, I let the second chill the recommended time and had better luck. I also did some investigating as to why my crust pulled away from the pan (this has always happened to my pies, but I was curious) and found out that I was probably stretching the dough as I put it in the pie pan which apparently you are never supposed to do. I even found a few recommendations that you push the dough into place and in some cases, leave a small amount "hanging" over the edge of the pan so it can't pull in while baking.
Overall I considered it a success. The family loved it at Thanksgiving, although Chris found out he doesn't like pumpkin pie.
I had leftover pumpkin puree and crust, so I did a little experimenting. I used a drinking glass to cut out small circles of crust and pressed them into muffin tins. I filled them with the batter as you would a pumpkin pie and baked them, watching closely since I didn't have a baking time. I'm pretty sure these turned out better than the pie itself! I brought them to an office party and everyone raved about them. I'm sure they tasted the same as the pie, but there's something about "baby" things that make them that much better. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of them, but you get the idea I'm sure.
I used a filling recipe that was meant to be organic and called for raw sugar, but it held up well under my substitutions of everyday ingredients and white sugar. I used a standard pie crust recipe and added cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of ground fig to the dry ingredients before adding the butter and water.
I learned a few things from this one. First, pie crust has to be cold if you don't want to struggle with it falling apart, and even then flour is your best friend to keep things from sticking. I'm an incredibly impatient person, but after one failed attempt with warm dough, I let the second chill the recommended time and had better luck. I also did some investigating as to why my crust pulled away from the pan (this has always happened to my pies, but I was curious) and found out that I was probably stretching the dough as I put it in the pie pan which apparently you are never supposed to do. I even found a few recommendations that you push the dough into place and in some cases, leave a small amount "hanging" over the edge of the pan so it can't pull in while baking.
Overall I considered it a success. The family loved it at Thanksgiving, although Chris found out he doesn't like pumpkin pie.
I had leftover pumpkin puree and crust, so I did a little experimenting. I used a drinking glass to cut out small circles of crust and pressed them into muffin tins. I filled them with the batter as you would a pumpkin pie and baked them, watching closely since I didn't have a baking time. I'm pretty sure these turned out better than the pie itself! I brought them to an office party and everyone raved about them. I'm sure they tasted the same as the pie, but there's something about "baby" things that make them that much better. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of them, but you get the idea I'm sure.
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