Pumpkin Pie

Are you ready to make some pie?

First things first....please take off your rings. You will thank me later! Ever worked with a bunch of flour with your diamond ring on your finger and did not get it off until a few hours later? If not, just take my word for it, you don't want to make that mistake because it is a pain to get clean. I like to take a cup of water and put some dishwahing detergent in the water and drop my ring in it. That way as I cook my ring gets clean. If you happen to leave your ring on and get it caked with gunk just soak it for a few hours in warm soapy water.

The first thing we need to make is the crust. If you are not going to make the crust then just skip on down to the recipe. Personally speaking, I make my crust all the time. I do not care for the premade stuff...it taste like...well.....canned crust. The trick to the perfect crust is ice cold water. So, take some ice and pour some water over it and let it sit out on the counter as you start the process. FYI this is the longest process of the entire pie making process -- the crust.

For a single pie crust you are going to combine 1.5 C of flour, 1/2 C of Crisco (I keep mine in the refrigerator which I think helps make the crust flaky and yummy) and a pinch of salt.

Use two knives to cut shortening into the flour.

Add a little water...not much...just a splash. You want the crust to barely hold together. It is going to look like lots of little pieces of dough.

Cut some more....

Almost, but not quite right yet. Add a little teny tiny bit more water.

Now it is ready. It is just able to hold together.

Shape it into a ball.

Flour your surface that you are going to roll the dough out on.

Flatten the dough out with your hands. Kind of pull it as much as you can making sure you shape it in a circle. We don't want to overwork it to much because then it gets tough.

Now roll it out.

Now we need to transfer the dough to the pie pan. The easiest way to do this is fold it into fourths. First fold it like so.

Fold it again in half.

Transfer to pie plate (mine is a deep dish) and start to unfold making sure it is centered.

Unfold and cut away excess dough along the edges. Take a knife or fork and poke it a few times as well. We do not want bubbles as we cook.

I like to take the excess dough and roll into a big snake and place that over the edge of the crust.

Now, make a shell.

Flute the edges or take a fork to it and press in. You can also simply take two fingers and press dough down to make an edge as well. I like to kind of pinch my pointer finger between my thumb and pointer finger on my opposite hand to make this kind of edge. I also set some dough aside and used a cute little cutter to make pumpkins.

Now it is time for the easy part -- making the pie guts! You are going to need the following for two regular size pies or 1 deep dish pie. 2 cans Pumpkin, 2 Cups heavy cream, 1 cup whole milk, 4 large eggs, 1.5 packed brown sugar, 2 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend, and 1/2 Tsp. salt.

Add the pumpkin and cream...

Milk....

Eggs....

Brown sugar...I would like to just say that I used Organic brown sugar from Trader Joe's and it is by far the most beautiful sugar I have ever seen. I did not know brown sugar could be beautiful, but this stuff was!

Pumpkin Pie Spice and salt

Now give it a good mixing.

Move your prepared pie crust close to the oven because the guts are gonna be runny and you do not want it spilling out of your pie. Pour the pie filling into the pie shell and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about an hour. start to check it about every 5 minutes or so after 45 minutes. You want the pie to be set, but a little wiggly. It sets as it cools ;-)

Tada! Yummy pie! I did not add the cute little pumpkins until the last 20 minutes or so because they would have just sunk to the bottom of the pie. I did forget to put my crust shield on the pie and am not happy with the edges :-( Oh well...my family will still eat it and won't even know the difference.

One can not have pumpkin pie without whipped cream, right? Let's make some! Take 16 ounces of heavy whipping cream and pour into a bowl.

Add about 1/2 Cup of sugar (you will add more later if you want...I always add another 1/4 Cup)

Now whip it....whip it good!

All done!

Wait for pie to cool and serve with a nice dollop of whipped cream.

I hope you were able to gain some insight into pie making from this post. If nothing else the crust is the best crust recipe I have ever used. I got it from my sister in my early 20's and have used it ever since then. My mom has a good one to that is as follows: 2 C flour, 1 C Shortening, 1/2 C water and 1/8 C salt. I must state that my mom makes it well, but my sister and I can not quite get it down. It ends up to salty and tough for me :-(

I do have another recipe for pumpkin pie that is made with real pumpkin, but that one is my cookbook that is coming out in a few weeks. However, I use organic canned pumpkin when I use this recipe because it taste more authentic....if that makes sense. Anyways, if you are interested in my cookbook, drop me a line at: betsiemorris@yahoo.com
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