After the turkey carcass has been picked meticulously clean, and put away for noodle soup later on in the week. After Tupperware containers are tightly packed full of assorted casserole side dishes and mashed veg, their lids are fully burped, and the puzzling refrigerator game of Tetris commences. And only after the pots, roasting pans, glasses, silverware, and various cooking debris has been either stacked neatly to be scrubbed later, OR crammed into the reliable, but noisy, ol’ dishwasher, do the Turkey Day pies come out at our house. We might get a quick cat nap in before pie if we’re lucky!
For as long as I can remember, pumpkin pie has always been a Thanksgiving dessert table staple. The Hubby and I were discussing earlier today about the side dishes that always seemed to be essential food items on our respective family tables.
The Hubby–the obvious roasted turkey, slow cooked over night on low heat with sticks and sticks of butter slathered on, over and under the fine fowl. (Until The Hubby found Jeff Mauro’s Crispy-Skinned Herb-Roasted Turkey recipe several years ago, slow cooking a buttered bird was the way it was done in our house.). Cornbread sausage stuffing, cooked outside of the bird and packed into a casserole dish to bake to golden brown-ness. Definitely a meal of its own! Green bean casserole featuring french-style canned beans, cream of mushroom soup, and french-fried onions. Broccoli casserole, sometimes with or without cooked white rice, but always with cheddar cheese and crushed up butter crackers. A yeasted roll. Homemade carrot cake studded with nuts and smeared with gooey cream cheese frosting.
Me–Roasted turkey, but depending on the era, it might be cooked in a brown-paper bag or a Reynolds oven-safe bag. Stove-top stuffing, generally stuffed into the back-side end of the bagged bird. Creamy mashed potatoes beaten with butter and milk. Never ever from a box or Pop would protest! A green iceberg lettuce salad tossed with chunked hot-house ripened tomatoes, crunchy skin-peeled cucumbers, and diced green peppers drizzled with Ranch, Raspberry Vinaigrette or Thousand Island dressing. Canned and jellied cranberry sauce. Ahh…the sound of this congealed cranberry log plopping on to a plate brings back memories. And always a bread of some sort–roll or loaf. It didn’t matter, but Pop was the first to snitch a slightly cooled roll or loaf end (aka butt) to sample. Country Crock brand margarine, and later butter, was a must! Homemade pumpkin pie. Definitely!
It’s interesting to think about how two different upbringings combine into a new food tradition. I wrote about our Thanksgiving menu when Minion A moved to Arizona a few years ago. Now that Minion A and B are of adulting-age, it’s interesting to hear their “traditional” holiday meal requests.
Most recently, Minion A was patient enough to let me invade his one-bedroom flat in the Phoenix area. He even booked my standby flight, which returned the Tuesday before Turkey Day. (Wasn’t sure I’d get out of PHX at 6 AM that day, but got the last seat! Yea!). While in the Grand Canyon state, Son A graciously gave me a tour of the enormous hangar he works in and explained the intricacies of the composite and paint work he does on commercial aircraft bodies. My repayment for house invasion, taking him to order from the menus of diverse eating establishments, and generally upending his schedule was to make a pumpkin pie for his T-Day dessert. Check!
Minion B also requested a pumpkin pie for T-Day. Check, check! Those cute pie pumpkins sold in grocery stores for Halloween/Thanksgiving decor make fabulous fresh pies. Making homemade roasted pumpkin puree is as easy as, well, pie. Slice the top and bottom off the pumpkin, cut it in half, and scoop out the seeds. Line a baking sheet with lightly greased aluminum foil. Place the pumpkin cut-side down on the foil, and bake in a preheated 425 degree F oven for about 25-30 minutes. The pumpkin should be easy to pierce with a fork or a knife. Remove from the oven and cool. Peel the skin off and process the pumpkin in a food processor or blender with about 1/4 cup water until smooth. Use as needed for your recipes.
The recipe I used for this Traditional Pumpkin Pie features simple ingredients–pumpkin puree, eggs, sugars, light cream, and spices. You can make this ahead of time (up to a day) and leave in the chill chest until you’re ready to bake. Freshly ground black pepper gives an extra touch of spice to this already spiced-up filling!
You can opt to bake the pumpkin pie filling in an unbaked pie crust of your choosing (homemade or store-bought). But I highly recommend pre-baking, or blind baking, your pie crust. First and foremost, it ensures your crust is flaky. Follow the directions for pre-baking store-bought crusts according to the package. But for homemade crust recipes, make as directed. The key is allowing your pie crust dough about 30 minutes of chilled wait-time before rolling out. This lets the fat (butter, shortening or both) to set and for the gluten in the flour to relax. Roll out the dough as normal, press into the pie plate, flute the crust edges, and dock the bottom of the pie with a fork. Return the pie crust to the freezer for about 20-30 minutes minimum before baking.
The second trip to the chill chest ensures the crust remains in its desired state, so no slumping will occur. Press a sheet of aluminum foil into the bottom and up the sides of the crust. Then fill full with granulated sugar. Granulated sugar works like fancy pie weights or chains do, but can be reused again in another baking recipe. Bake the crust at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes to partially blind bake the crust. Pull the aluminum foil and sugar out to cool. Then fill with whatever filling needs cooking such as pumpkin or custard pie. For a fully blind baked pie, bake for 30-40 minutes, cool and fill with a filling that doesn’t need cooking such as a cream pie.
Any well-plated pie needs to have a crowning finish, so for this pumpkin pie I opted to make Vanilla Bourbon Whipped Cream. Beat cold whipped cream with powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and bourbon, then beat until stiff peaks form. I used 2 tablespoons of bourbon in my recipe, but you can go as less as 1 tablespoon or as much as 3 tablespoons. More than this will result in whipped cream that doesn’t hold its shape. (Bourbon extract can also be used if you want to entirely omit any alcohol.)
On this day of Thanks, there are 3/4 of our household who are enjoying one of our preferred traditional meal items. We hope you are too! Happy Turkey Day from our Zoo to yours!
PrintTraditional Pumpkin Pie with Vanilla Bourbon Whipped Cream
Silky, spiced pumpkin pie is perfectly cooked in a flaky crust and is topped with a vanilla bourbon whipped cream. Holiday partnerships never tasted sweeter!
Ingredients
One 9-inch pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
For Pumpkin Pie Filling:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt (table, kosher, or sea)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 c. pumpkin puree
1–1/4 c. light cream* or evaporated milk
For Vanilla Bourbon Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream, cold
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1–3 T. bourbon**
Instructions
Pre-bake pie crust according to package directions. If using homemade pie crust, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix pie crust according to recipe directions. Combine dough into a ball, flatten into a 1/2-inch thick disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Put into refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove from fridge and roll out into 1/4-inch thick circle (or enough to line a 9-inch pie pan) on a floured work surface. Move rolled dough into pie pan. Press into bottom and sides of pan. Flute edges of pie. Dock bottom of pie with fork. Place in freezer for 30 minutes or longer to set. Remove from freezer and press aluminum foil into bottom and up sides of pie crust. Fill completely with granulated sugar to weight crust down. Place on baking sheet and put in oven to blind bake: 15-20 minutes for partially baked crust, or 40-50 minutes for fully baked crust. Remove from oven. Allow to cool on wire rack. Remove aluminum foil and sugar. Use sugar as normally would. Set pie crust aside.
To make pumpkin pie filling, combine granulated and brown sugars, flour, salt and spices in a large bowl Beat in eggs, pumpkin and cream. Filling can be covered and refrigerated for up to a day before baking. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Pour filling into partially blind baked pie crust. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Filling should be slightly wobbly when done. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Filling will continue cooking as pie cools. Store pie loosely covered in refrigerator until ready to serve.
To make Vanilla Bourbon Whipped Cream, using a hand-held mixer, beat the heavy cream together with the powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla and bourbon. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Serve immediately on pumpkin pie. Store whipped cream in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.
Notes
*Equal parts of whole milk and heavy cream can be used in place of light cream.
**More than 3 T, bourbon will result in watery whipped cream that won’t hold a shape. Bourbon extract can be substituted if alcohol is not desired.
IMNPB
Recommended To You
