Tag Archives: pumpkin

Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar Walnut Topping

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Pumpkin Caramels

Posted on by
Reply

Soundtrack: Misfits

finished pumpkin caramels

Supplies:
baking sheet covered in saran wrap
candy thermometer
pastry brush with water
measuring cups/spoons
knife
3qt saucepan
heatproof silicone spatuala
cutting board
more saran wrap
Ingredients:
1 Tbs corn syrup
1 Tbs golden syrup or molasses (honestly, i used maple syrup since that's what i had on hand. and it was only a Tbs...truth.)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp allspice
1 Tbs butter
1 and 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 and 1/2 c cream
2 c sugar
1/2 c pureed pumpkin, canned or fresh

ingredients

line baking sheet with plastic wrap – i only had green on hand. this will not work in my favor when i later wrap finished caramels. measure out corn syrup, golden syrup (maple syrup in my case…), cinnamon, ginger and allspice. add to saucepan and mix.

cooking

add butter, kosher salt, and cream. cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil then turn down heat to keep warm.

caramelizing sugar

caramelize the 2 cups of sugar – add 1/8inch of sugar to bottom of saucepan and move sugar around with spatula as sugar begins to melt.

caramelizing sugar

after this layer melts add another 1/8inch on top of caramel and continue until all of the sugar has been turned into caramel.

cooking

turn off heat and add warm cream/spice mixture into caramel

cooking

this will cause the caramel to rapidly boil and bubble up but it will eventually calm down.

ingredients

measure out pumpkin puree

cooking

add pumpkin puree, stir until smooth – slowly and contstantly – until mixture reaches 248degrees about 30 minutes

cooking

just about when you’ve decided that it will never reach 248degrees the mixture will change from how it looks/consistency in the photo above to…

cooking

this – thicker caramel consistency that pulls away from pot when you stir

finishing

take off heat and pour onto plastic wrap covered pan

finishing

cover with more plastic crap and let cool overnight

finishing

this was how i decided to wrap the caramels – sort of like making raviolis but plastic wrap instead of pasta and caramel instead of butternut squash filling. used scissors to cut into little squares and then folded sides over. now you can see why it is important to have clear plastic wrap on hand…despite the desire to add more color to your life.

noms

Lessons Learned:

  • don’t  give up when waiting for mixture to turn into caramel. it stays at 220degrees for what seems like for.ev.er.
  • careful when adding cream mixture to caramel mixture – it bubbles rapidly and starts boiling again even though it’s off the heat
  • when covering the caramel with saran wrap there will inevitably be bubbles – just pop with a knife
  • flavor turned out really well – but curious to see what it would be like had i actually used molasses rather than maple syrup…
  • wrapping candy in plastic wrap is really, really time consuming – and i’m sure it will be annoying to unwrap when eating. however the caramels will clump together and sort of melt into a big mess unless they are separated by wrap
  • trying to roll the caramel into balls – i thought maybe they could be milkdud-esque but they are so soft the bottom flattens out and doesn’t hold the shape

Review: very soft and creamy. could use more pumpkin flavor. makes a lot of caramel.  i found it settled into a flatter tile shape when cut rather than cube which didn’t bother me, but it’s worth noting.