We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Santa Monica this year! Four of us worked together to make what we all thought was a fabulous meal: turkey, mashed taters, gravy, mom's stuffing, Paula Deen's green bean casserole, Christie's cranberry-apple-orange sauce and sweet potato casserole, ambrosia, and two homemade pies. The boys baked the gingerbread pumpkin pie (with streusel) and Christie and I made the caramel chocolate pecan pie. And yes, they were as tasty as they sound! Per the request of our generous and fabulous hosts, I am posting the pie recipes. We altered them a bit, but generally followed these recipes from Cuisine at Home. Check out this month's issue and you'll see the beautiful caramel chocolate pecan pie.
Recipes
Gingerbread Pumpkin Pie with streusel topping
9 in. pie; 12 servings
Pie:
pie crust (use your favorite recipe...or buy one! We used a graham cracker crust)
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. molasses (we used light corn syrup as substitute, but I would use molasses if you can)
1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger (we subtracted to make pie a little more traditional)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, clove/allspice, nutmeg)
1/2 tsp. table salt
1 cup heavy cream
Streusel:
1/4 cup crushed gingersnaps
2 Tbsp. chopped pecans
2 Tbsp. chopped crystallized ginger (we subtracted this based on preference)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 375 degrees; line a baking sheet with foil
Prepare and roll out pie dough and blind bake (pre-cook filled with foil and beans for 15 minutes, remove beans and bake for another 10 minutes); cool to room temp.
Whisk eggs, brown sugar, and molasses together in a bowl, add pumpkin, ginger, pie spice, and salt and blend.
Stir in cream until smooth; pour into prepared pie crust and bake until set--approx 40 min.
While baking, make streusel: combine gingersnaps, pecans, crystallized ginger, and butter for topping in a bowl until saturated with butter. Scatter streusel over the center of the pie and return to oven too cook until center is set--approx 15-20 more minutes. May need to shield crust.
Caramel-Chocolate-Pecan Pie
9 1/2 in. pie; 12 servings
Crust and Ganache:
Pie crust (make one or buy one!)
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (we used chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans
Caramel pastry cream:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup hot water
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. table salt
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1-2 Tbsp. rum
Whipped topping:
1 1/2 - 2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
(we also added a touch of vanilla)
Caramel and chocolate syrups to drizzle on top
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Prepare pie dough and blind back (see above); cool to room temp.
Combine 3/4 cup cream and syrup in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pour over chocolate in a small bowl, let stand for 5 minutes and whisk until smooth. Pour ganach into cooled pie shell and top with 1 cup toasted chopped pecans; press pecans into ganache.
Prepare pastry cream: Boil granulated sugar and water in a pan over medium heat for caramel, stirring occasionally, until the color of iced tea, about 15 min.
While waiting for caramel, whisk milk, brown sugar, and cornstarch together in a pan over medium heat until blended. Whisk in egg yolks and salt. DO NOT let milk mixture boil.
When the caramel is done, slowly whisk in the milk mixture into caramel. Continue whisking until milk mixture and caramel are combined and begin to thicken into custard (medium heat, whisking until thick). Boil 1 minute to eleminate starchiness of cornstarch.
Off heat, stir in butter and rum until butter melts. Cool to room temp., about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread caramel pastry cream onto ganache layer in pie crust. Cover with plastic, pressing surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 4 hours to set cream.
Before serving, whip 1 1/2 cups cream with powdered sugar (and vanilla, if preferred) in a bowl with hand mixure on high speed until fluffy. Top whole pie with whipped cream to edges. Drizzle with caramel and chocolate syrups and garnish with remaining pecans after slicing.
Enjoy these delicious Thanksgiving pies any time during the year!
