TWD: Caramel Pumpkin Pie
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
- make pie crust - DONE!
- make pumpkin pie - DONE!
- I have never made pie crust from scratch (seriously why go thru all the trouble when you can buy it made at the supermarket?)
- Pumpkin - hate it.
- I stayed far, far away from these baking items most of my life
Then I meet Tom.
And Tom loves me.
And I love him back.
And being in a loving relationship you do things for each other that you don’t like to do.
Like making pie crust from scratch and then filling it with pumpkin.
Yes, I love him A LOT.
Just like I love my food processor, because using that for less than 5 minutes gave me pie crust, that looked and felt like the real stuff, the real GOOD stuff.
I will never be afraid of pie crust again.
I will never buy pre-made supermarket pie crust again.
The pumpkin filling?
My love for Tom is strong, but not enough to take me go to the other side and like pumpkin.
Sorry, babe.
But, did you see my pretty pie crust?
This filling is made with caramel, the way that I have always made caramel, sugar to hot pan, see sugar melt in hot pan. Watch like a hank, as soon as it turns blond, take away from heat.
And…voila! Hot yummy caramel in the house.
I did do an extra step in order to avoid having to yell at the caramel. And warmed up my cream in the microwave in order for it to be warm when it hit the HOT caramel and have a hot mess in my hands.
It still bubbled up like crazy, but it did not form hard, candy pieces. And trust me you do not want to have hard caramel inside the caramel.
The rest was pretty easy, but then when does dorie give us difficult instructions - ah, like never. It was done an in to the oven and then I got to sit back and wait for my house to start smelling like fall.
It did, at the 45 minute mark. But, it needed a bit more baking time and at the 60 minutes it came out, to rest up on rack and cool its pretty self out.
Verdicts:
Tom liked it, I think he was just happy he was not tasting cake but PIE! an honest to goodness pie, with crust and filling. His take was that he could taste the caramel and while it was not the usual pumpkin pie he was accustom, it was not bad and that he would make sure to finish it.
I did not even go near it. Ok, I did take a tiny bitty piece of crust and it was perfect! Flaky, and the perfect sweet/salty taste. So I know I did good on that front, which in my book was the hardest part of the whole thing.
We can thank Janell of Mortensen Family Memoirs for this pick and if you are itching to place this in your Thanksgiving table you can also find the recipe at her blog.
And don’t forget to visit TWD and check out what others are saying about pie.
Now that I think about it, I should make a cooking bucket list.
Reader Comments (16)
I can't believe this was your first attempt at making pie crust. Well done! This was my second attempt at pie crust, and quite frankly I failed miserably. So colour me jealous. You did good!
Kaitlin: I taking this as a total fluke and with a huge dose of beginners luck. The real test comes this weekend when I have another pie for another baking group. Then we will see.
Congrats on your 1st pie crust! You've survived...
Next.. yeast bread?
Love the pictures! Looks so awesome. The angle, the styling, everything - gorgeous!
Aww..that's so sweet! I'm sure Tom appreciates you made the extra mile to bake him a pumpkin pie! :D Looks delicious btw!
YUM! Pumpkin pie is one of my all time favorite desserts! I started making my own crusts last fall and won't go back to the pre-made ones either.
Have you tried sweet potato pie? Same yummy flavors of fall!
I, too, fear pie crust. I'll try the food processor method.
Vicki: the Food Processor is like heaven sent. Quick and poof you have a dough!
Very pretty pie! Congrats on crossing that one off the list! I like the idea of a cooking bucket list or at least a baking one. I crossed off yeast bread and pie dough this year (though the pie dough still needs a little work). I'm hoping to cross off making a family fudge recipe on my own later this year.
Guys, I prefer making pie crust (or kneading bread) by hand. I find it relaxing. Plus afterward, my hands would smell like heaavenly pie crust - even after I wash it. It beats the smell of lotion!
Jenn: I wanted to try that, but I'm so intimidated by the whole thing, I know that I will totally screw it up. That is why Iet the machine do all the work. The only kneading I do is to form it into a ball and place in plastic wrap and dump in the refrigerator before it gets mad at me. Annnnndddddd lets not talk about bread 'k *wink*
Beautiful pie! You can tell the crust is flaky. Too bad you didn't taste the pie filling. But I'm glad you didn't have to get mad at the caramel this time and yell at it, haha.
Great job on your very first pie crust! I'm so glad it worked out for you. And, while you don't like pumpkin pie, I'm glad Tom enjoyed it. Thanks for baking along with me this week!
The first time you made pie!! Really? You've been missing out, I LOVE a good pie. And I prefer doing it by hand and going by feel. It produces such an awesome result :)
Monica,
This pie looks divine...love the photos!
Thanks Cynthia.. let me know and I send you the recipe... pretty easy and according to Tom perfect for a Thanksgiving dessert.
Man, this story has everything. Horror, suspense, romance, triumph... I think you should sell the movie rights!