Apple butter pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving edition
So the apple butter pumpkin pie was a big hit—love the flavor from the apple butter, and using the heavy whipping cream instead of evaporated milk gave it a fluffiness I never got from the traditional Libby’s recipe.
Decided to ditch the walnut streusel topping (I really am allergic to nuts, had it confirmed by the allergist) in favor of an improvised sunburst pattern of strips of pastry. Thought it turned out very well, though were I to do this again I would leave the extra perimeter of the bottom crust hanging over the edge while doing the strips of dough, then fold it over the edges and crimp to make a cleaner finish on the outside.
I think this is our new official family pumpkin pie recipe, however!
Sunny spinach pie
This just looked too good to pass up. Best part was, it tasted amazing too! Win-win.
So basically you make a double crust, opening it up to a bit wider than one would for a pie in a pie plate. On the bottom crust you put your spinach-ricotta-spices mixture in a pattern like this:
Then lay the top crust over it, tucking it in around the central mound of filling, and making sure the outer edges line up with one another. Use a bowl to shape the dough over the central mound (it’ll give it a nice dome shape). Moisten the edges of the two layers and use a fork to crimp them together. Poke the fork tines down through both layers in a circle around the bowl to help bind them together around the center dome.
Then you do a magical slice-and-twist thing around the outer ring of filled pastry to get this:
It’s pretty amazing!
Apple butter pumpkin pie, test run
I wanted to try something different for the holiday pumpkin pies this year, beyond the tried and true Libby’s recipe. Found this one that uses apple butter, which sounded pretty brilliant. I love apple butter.
The original recipe called for a nut crust (which I skipped, opting for Purdy’s basic flaky pastry instead) and a walnut streusel topping (which I kept—that’s called compromising with one’s food allergies.)
Baked the pies 2/3 of the way, then took out of the oven to add a walnut streusel topping
After another bit of baking, the final product
Blackberry-raspberry lattice-top pie
Made for first day of tech of Cabaret at Williams College. Way better than Dunkin’ Donuts.
Peach, crème fraîche, & honey pie
So this is basically a mashup of my end-of-season peach pie with the apricot & crème fraîche tart. It was a lovely lovely thing except that the peaches weren’t as ripe as I would’ve liked.
I had fun with the angled lattice variation (instead of perpendicular) and the scalloped crimping of the crust.
Return of the mushroom-onion pie
Added some grated parmesan on top, and thyme sprig garnish
David’s medieval-style pork, onion & apple pie
…a.k.a. pork chops and applesauce in a double coffin.
So I totally just made this one up, based on reading and thinking about the medieval predilection for mixing sweet and savory. I thought of how much I love homemade applesauce with my pork chops, and decided that would be a brilliant pie—with the addition of onions, because I’ve always thought onions and apples went well together.
I checked out some very British recipes for pork pies because I wanted (again, in the medieval vein) where to cook the pork IN the pie not BEFOREHAND. The answer for that turned out to be lower temps (like 250° or 275°) for longer times (2-3 hours). Tin foil to prevent over browning of the crust. Also, a full egg (yolk and white) glaze gave the lid the characteristic golden, glossy look. Rosemary, sage, pepper and salt for spicing. I should check what else I used.
Basically, this pie was absolute heaven—so much so that I was unwilling to share it with anyone! Best lunches ever.
One change for next time: try it with a lard crust instead of the basic flaky, butter-and-shortening crust. I mean really, this is what a lard crust was born to surround.
Apple custard pie with streusel top
This is a favorite, the sour cream custard with the apples is divine, and the streusel top (just sugar and butter no nuts) complements it perfectly. Have made this several times, for people who normally hate apple pie but adore this recipe.
