Let's talk dessert!

In My Humble Opinion
1

Inspired by this thread, I want to knwo about desserts.

Thanksgiving, at least the food part, is taken pretty seriously by the VA relatives. Each year, people get nominated to make something. This year, thanks to my near-legendary baking skills, I got nominated for dessert. I was told that “anything is fine but we’d really like the traditional pecan and pumpkin pies.” In my family this means: Bring pumpkin and pecan pies or you will be ridiculed for years.

The problem? I’ve never made either. I don’t have a recipe for either. I love pecan pie, but tasted pumpkin pie when I was a kid once, and never since. The kids and wife don’t like it, and I don’t even know how it’s supposed to taste.

Help me out here. I need recipes for pecan and pumpkin pie. Good, solid made from scratch ones are preferred. My cooking philsophy is that if I’m going to take the time to make it, it’s gotta be made from scratch.

My cheesecakes, brownies, cookies, and fruit based pies all rock. My main courses and sauces are exquisite. Help me add to the formidable arsenal that is my recipe box. If you do, and you’re local, I’ll even get a piece to you.

2

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

3 pounds sweet potatoes
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 9" prepared piecrusts

Preheat oven to 400. Pierce the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and place them in the oven. Bake them for an hour until very tender when pierced with a fork. When done, remove from oven and cool slightly.

When cool enough to handle, remove potato skins and mash with a ricer, food mill and fork (or with a regular old masher and elbow grease!). Stir in spices and butter until smooth. Cool completely.

Place a piece of foil in the pans with the pie crust and add pie weights to cover the bottom of the pans. Bake crusts for 10 minutes to seal it. Cool crusts completely and reduce oven temp to 350.

In a bowl combine the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and salt; whisk until smooth. Add this mix to the cooled potatoes, whisking thoroughly. Add vanilla and heavy cream and mix until combined. Pour into shells and set aside.

Pecan topping:

3 cups chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 Tbsp water

In a small saucepan combine all of the ingredients and cook over low heat until sugar has melted. Spoon topping over pie filling, gently spreading nuts evenly over pies.

Place pies in oven and bake 40-50 minutes or until filling is set and pie puffs slightly. Remove pies from oven and cool completely.

When serving, top with bourbon cream. Refrigerate unused pie (yeah, like there will be ANY left)

Bourbon cream:

2 cups chilled heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp bourbon
1 Tbsp minced crystallized ginger.

Combine all and whip to stiff peaks. Chill until ready to serve.

I got this recipe from a cooking class I attended on Tuesday night. (they make it, we eat it kind of thing) It was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!

3

I should add that with this recipe, you get the best of both worlds - the sweet potato part is rather like pumpkin pie, and the pecan topping is like the pecan pie.

The bourbon cream is absolutely a wonderful touch. I’d highly recommend not skipping that.

Yummmmmm.

4

try the recipie on the back of the Libby’s canned pumpkin. I have been using it for the past 20 years nad it works for me. Also you need to make a deep dish pie crust because there’s too much mix for a standard one.

Good luck and happy eating. btw pumpkin pie tastes like sweet potatoes with cream, a little sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.

5

Really, you’re the second person to recommend the Libby’s recipe to me. I’m not a sweet potato person either. Though I like the rest of my vegetable well enough.

How about pecan pie?

6

I always make a Honey-Pecan Pumpkin Pie. It’s awfully yummy, and very popular. Make extra of the candied pecans – trust me, they make great snacks and everyone loves 'em.

As for the traditional pecan pie? Costco, baby. :smiley:

7

Not being a southerner, attempting a Pecan pie has always intimidated me … not sure why, since I am an excellent baker.

Anyway, I’ll agree with t he recipe on the back of the Libby Pumpkin can. My mom used it, I use it … though I tweak the spices a bit now. For the crust, the frozen ones are perfectly acceptable, as well as the one on the back of the crisco shortening can. I make the crusts festive by trimming scraps and sticking them to the rim of the pie crust with an egg wash. I use mini leaf and pumpkin cutters from williams-sonoma.

Pumpkin cheesecake is also a good one to serve.

8

Being a southerner, I guess I must rise to the challenge or the’ll take my good-cook-mommie license away.

Here’s the one in my Southern Living cookbook:

1 piecrust (welby I’m positive you already have one that rocks)
4 large eggs
1 c dark corn syrup (do NOT use molassess ~ it’s too heavy)
3/4 c sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
pinch o’salt
1 t vanilla extract
1 c chopped pecans
3/4 cup pecan halves

Bead eggs & next 5 ingredients at medium speed until smooth. Stir in chopped nuts. Pour into crust. Arrange pecan halves on top.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes (you might have to shield the edges after 30 minutes to prevent over-browing).

Joy also has a good recipie. They are all similar.

Instead of pumpkin, go out on a limb and make sweet potato pie (I know, you already said you don’t do sweet potatoes). I like it better than pumpkin. Plus you can make that groovy crust with the chopped nuts in it.

9

I’m thinking if you’ve done really well in making cheesecakes, why not try a pumpkin cheesecake? I’m doing one myself for Thanksgiving as more people in my family would be happier with that than just plain pumpkin pie. Here’s my recipe:

Crust:
1 cup gingersnap crumbs
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
5-6 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:
2 lbs. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh-grated, if you can)
hefty pinch of ground clove
1-15 ounce can of solid pack pumpkin
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For crust: Combine all 4 ingredients in a bowl (adding more butter if you need it), and press into a 9" springform pan. Toast lightly in a 350 degree oven, for about 10 minutes. Let cool completely, and then wrap the outside of the pan well in double-layer foil.

For filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and light. Add spices and pumpkin, beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time while beating, and add vanilla. Pour into springform pan. Place springform pan into a deep roasting pan, and pour enough hot water to come 1" up on the side of the springform. Bake at 350 until cake is set and top is golden–about 1 hour 30 minutes. Cool completely, cover, and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Great thing about this recipe is that you can make this up to 3 days in advance.

10

What yuo have here is the unique situation which you can pratice your impressive baking skills and not have to bake the required pumpkin, or pecan.

You go ahead and make whatever your little heart desires for dessert. Make a recipe you know will slay them. Something that will impress as well as delight. Damn you could create a whole new tradition in family desserts if you play this up the right way.

Then have a friend who is baking these pies for thier family do a few for you to take to the Family. Being baked by someone other than a “Professional” wil akin it to the homebaking they are expecting of you. Better yet have them bake it in your Kitchen with your ingreience. Ok, it might be cheating

Your explaination of the whole matter?? You diddn’t know how to make a proper pecan or pumpkin pie but you wanted to be sure they had proper pie.

The ending of course will result in you getting a slew of recipes for pumpkin pies from the family. Ribbed on your lack of knowlede on not knowing how to bake one, which if you were in my family you’d have gotten anyhow. Possibly the challege to return again next year with a good pie you baked,Which only puts off having to do it. I hope of course, that there will be an unspoken agreement that you never have to bake those pies again.

I won’t have to bake pies for Thankgiving. I do however get the privilage of being the slayer with the Christmas cookies, but that sir, is a whole 'nother thread.

Have a great Holiday.

11

Not pecan or pumpkin pie, but my mother-in-law has me bring cranberry cheesecake to her house for Thanksgiving dessert.

If anybody’s interested in a recipe, I’d be happy to post it.

12

NinetyWt I tried your recipe this weekend, and it makes a damn good pie. I did wind up covering the edges but still got a little extra brown on the edges. Then again, my pie wasn’t ready after 50 minutes, or at least I don’t think it was.

Does the pie have to set before you pull it out? Mine didn’t the center was still liquid at 50 minutes, so I let it cook, checking every 5 minutes. Total cook time was 70 minutes, and the pecans ont he top got a little extra crispy.

JavaMaven1 thanks for the recipe. I think I’ll probably leave well enough alone this year and shoot for the traditional cheesecake, which was already on the menu. I’ve decided one of each pie and an assortment of other stuff, a cheese cake, cookies, and some lemon bars that’ll knock your socks off.

Thanks for all the help Dopers!