What's your ideal pumpkin pie?
Hello to all of you! Of all American pies, pumpkin pie is my favorite! I was skeptical at it at first because it's bizarre to use pumpkin as a sweet here but when I made it, I really liked it and it quickly replaced apple pie in my heart as my favorite. Here is my first attempt on pumpkin pie and I want to improve it more so I just wanna know your insights to what makes the best pumpkin pie.
1) What crust do you prefer? What do you like, crispy crumbly or flaky?
2) Do you prefer the filling dense or slightly delicate? Silky smooth or slightly chunky?
3) Do you prefer it spicy (do you eat it for the spice flavor) or pumpkiny (do you like the pumpkin to dominate the flavor with just a touch of spice)? Would you consider leaving out the spices?
4) What sweetener do you prefer? Milk or cream in the filling?
5) What are your other tips for the best pumpkin pie? Recipes are more than welcome!
I am writing not to encourage debates; I just want to know other people's preferences especially to those who are familiar with pumpkin pie. I want to introduce this to my family and friends and by receiving opinions/advice from a wide range of palates, I will be able to make a killer pie; I know it will not be a one size fits all and to each his own but somehow it will still allow me to create a pie that will be appreciated by many.
Thanks in advance!
1) Flaky preferably made with lard.
2) Custard filling made with eggs from the chickens in the backyard that has course chunky pumpkin or really any kind of squash in it.
3)Lightly spiced but wouldn't consider leaving it out, if you did it would be a different pie altogether.
4) Honey with maybe a bit of maple or sorghum syrup. Milk, the richness comes from the eggs.
5) Make it your own it's hard to mess up.
I hope you enjoy your pie adventure.
Stu
Sounds like you are almost describing the pie that I made; lightly spiced with cinnamon, fresh ginger and nutmeg, sweetened with honey, made with milk but still rich from organic free-range eggs from our own chickens raised in our yard in a flaky crust just made with oil.
My favorite pumpkin pie recipe is from pickyourown.org Link follows.
I'll include it in my test bakes!
http://www.pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php
We have a recipe kicking around that we first made years ago; it's now been shared around the family and everyone makes it. I don't have it handy, but the crust is a graham cracker crust, and the filling has orange juice concentrate and a litre of vanilla ice cream blended into it! It's very yummy.... :)
A non-traditional pumpkin pie to rock some taste buds! I'll make some pie with similar crust and flavors. Thanks!
I want the crust flaky. I use half butter and half shortening. Butter to add taste and shortening to achieve flakiness.
The filling...I want some spices in there.
The recipe in Pastries From The La Brea Bakery (found it at the library a few years ago). Roasted yams and pumpkin, cream, vanila bean (I use paste), minimal spices, a little maple syrup, etc. To me the texture is creamier, less complex with fewer spices, yet still yummy. Plus the crust has a different technique (creaming the butter and shortening, then adding flour - very flaky. Nancy Silverton must have a reason for doing it this way, but I'd never seen it before.
Wish I could duplicate my mother-in-law's crust. I kid you not, one of two things my father-in-law requested as part of their wedding promises was "a pie a week." He was born in the late 1930's in the midwest, and knows his pie. She's pretty much provided one weekly for 60+ years. My kids would call her on holidays to see how many different flavors she'd made (as opposed to the 1 or 2 I might get done). Enjoy!