Getting in the fall spirit with…Pumpkin Pie!!

Hello everyone following my cooking adventures, or any curious passerby. Last night I decided that it was a good time to start making pumpkin pie for a couple of reasons. First, Autumn is here, and since I live in Hawaii I don’t get cold, so making my house smell like it should be snowing outside is quite enticing. And second, I am planning on selling pumpkin pies for the fall season in order to get exposure to my blog and to raise money to continue cooking. Great idea if you ask me.

So I have created and assembled my pumpkin pie as follows:

1 Flaky pie crust, nothing special other than it is delicious.

1 Pumpkin pie filling which I will explain in further detail soon. Also delicious.

1 Cinnamon streusel topping, a great twist to classic pumpkin pie, and a must have after you experience it

Home made whipped cream to garnish.

 

So, a few words about my pumpkin pie before I do the ol’ step by step.

First, I like to use a cake pan versus a pie pan for my pies. This recipe will create almost two pie pan sized pies. However, I like deep dish pumpkin pies, so I use a cake pan. Not to mention you only have to make one pie crust.

Second, Make sure you beat the egg whites well (more detail later) and I will show you how to tell if you have done it correctly.

Third, when making the pie crust, you want to do it quickly. It is important to keep the butter cold, so try not to handle it too much with your hands, and only pull it out of the refrigerator when needed.

Fourth, the whip cream I use is the same one I used for the Banana Cream Pie post (When Opportunity Knocks). Please reference that recipe if you plan on making home made whip cream.

Finally, I will tell you that this pumpkin pie is the only one that I have found that I can eat warm. If you think about it, most of the time people eat pumpkin pie cold or at the most room temperature. This particular pie, in my opinion, tastes better when has just been taken out of the oven and allowed to rest for 15 – 20 minutes. Goes great with a cup of coffee or milk. Yum!!

 

Ok, so let us begin with the creation of a down home amazing Pumpkin Pie.

 

Pumpkin Pie

 

Pie crust for one pie

1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour

1 stick butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons ice water

1. Combine the flour and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork, or be like me and just add the flour, butter, and salt to the trusty food processor and give it a whirl. No matter what method you do, you should end up with a fine crumbly mixture.

2. Drip the water over the mixture and stir to combine. Once it is almost completely combined and starts to stick together, start using your hands to form it into a ball.

3. Place the dough on either a floured counter or use some wax paper. I prefer the paper, easy cleanup.

4. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin, using flour to coat the rolling pin to prevent sticking to the dough, until the dough is about 1/8″ thick, or until you think it will fit inside your pan.

Your finished dough should look something like this. Again, work fast so the butter doesn’t get too soft or else it will start sticking. If this happens, just put it in the fridge for a few minutes to harden the butter again.

 

So now onto the filling

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 can (16 oz.) Pumpkin (Do Not get pumpkin pie filling, just plain pumpkin)

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I highly recommend Saigon Cinnamon)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Mix together the pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, and the egg yolks.

2. Add the spices and salt all at once and mix.

3. Now for the fun part. You need to beat the egg whites until they become frothy and soft peaks form. This can be accomplished in two ways. One, manual with a fork or whisk, or two, with an electric mixer. Just be sure to whip them well and only until soft peaks start to form. I use the manual method and this is what you are looking for.

Egg Whites Before

Egg Whites After

4. Now is the gentle step. I normally use a rubber spatula for this step. Gently fold the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture. You need to be gentle so that you don’t lose the air and fluffiness that you just finished whipping into the egg whites. Mix it all together just until the egg whites disappear.

5. Gently pour the mixture into the pie crust. Flute the edges of the pie crust if you wish, or do whatever works for you, how it looks has nothing to do with how it will taste.

6. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the cinnamon streusel (recipe to follow) and after 15 minutes, sprinkle on top, reduce oven heat to 350 degrees, and cook for another 40 minutes.

 

Cinnamon Streusel Topping

2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients well.

2. Cut in the butter using a fork or pastry blender. Basically just keep pushing down on the butter until the mixture comes together and is crumbly, like so.

Now, one more pointer about baking this pie. With the addition of properly whipped and folded egg whites, your pumpkin pie will turn into a kind of souffle, meaning that if will have expansion that will help to make it a little lighter than other pumpkin pies you might have had. The best way to know whether or not your’s is baking good is to look at it in the oven, and see if it is rising, like a souffle. Here is how it should look.

And finally, once removing from the oven and allowing to cool off for a little while, and adding a little whipped cream garnish, this is what you end up with.

Now as I said before, I will be selling these for the Fall season and for Thanksgiving, so If you happen to live on Oahu and might be interested let me know. This particular pie was devoured at work today, and I am already receiving orders. I will sell a whole pie for $10.00 and one piece for $2.00.

Please leave any comments or questions below, and check back in often, I have more cooking adventures to pursue!