Inspiration: Pi day (3/14)

finished pie

Supplies:
pie tin
measuring cups/spoons
whisk
vitamix or food processor

Ingredients: (topping)
1/2 c walnut pieces
1/4 c packed golden brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch fine sea salt
pie crust
Ingredients: (filling)
1 c packed golden brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 can (15oz) pure pumpkin
1 c heavy whipping cream

so in honor of Pi day and to appease my inner math enthusiast i decided to bake off a pie. perused many options but decided on this one from Bon Appetite:

Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar Walnut Topping

ingredients

pre-heat oven to 375degrees. poke holes in bottom of pie shell with fork to allow air to escape. place frozen pie shell (i googled brands and am pretty impressed with how this one from Whole Foods called Whole Wholesome Organic turned out) in oven for about 15min to crisp up a bit.

topping

using Vitamix or food processor grind up walnuts, brown sugar and salt.

topping

pulse until it turns into fine crumbs

filling

whisk brown sugar, eggs and spices in medium bowl. add in heavy whipping cream and pumpkin puree and whisk some more to combine.

cooking

pour filling into pie and bake for about 30 min. be careful when placing pie into oven – where it sloshed over onto the pie crust it wound up burning and turning black by the time the pie was done. eep. sprinkle topping on pie and continue to bake for 15 min at 325degrees (i accidentally left my oven at 375degrees – again, eep.)

noms

Lessons Learned:

• there was a lot of excess filling that – despite my ill conceived attempts – did not fit in the pie shell. hence the filling all over the pie crust and subsequent burned shell.
• the pie needed to cook for longer than 30min to firm up. the finished, warm pie wasn’t set and tasted too runny, but putting it in the fridge overnight did the trick.
• make sure your oven is functioning. long story, but a messy transport and one kind soul with a proper oven later i wound up with a saved the pie.
• also…in all the craziness of pie transport/re-filling/re-bake i forgot to turn down the oven to 325 degrees after the topping was put on – but honestly not a big deal, i still liked the burntish taste

Review: honestly i’m not a pie fan but i love pumpkin puree and even eat it just by itself whenever it’s prominently promoted over the fall holidays. this tasted like a creamier version of that, but i really liked that the recipe didn’t call for condensed milk like some recipes do which i think takes away too much from the pumpkin taste. also the crumb topping doesn’t call for butter like most crumbles which i also like since it makes the overall flavor of the pie (deceptively?) healthy tasting. the frozen pie crust i used was also a winner, aside from the burnt parts around the sides…better chilled since it set the filling up, but had i cooked it longer i’m sure it would have been fine warm or at room temperature.