That’s the apple butter pumpkin pie at the bottom, and the pear mincemeat pie on top. The latter was served with homemade hard sauce as well—because really Christmas is just an excuse to put brandy in everything 😀
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!
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.)