Ever since I received Chris's Grandma Barbi's "foolproof" pie crust recipe, making pies has stopped being intimidating and has instead become really fun. I love trying out new fillings and ways to use the easy-to-make dough. This year I was in charge of bringing pies to my family's Thanksgiving dinner. While I knew pumpkin pies were a must-have, I wanted to bring something new to the table, too. After watching the food network on a lazy Saturday morning I decided to make something festive I'd never tasted before: Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie.
It turned out wonderfully-- as did the spicy pumpkin pies I made using a recipe from the Sur La Table cookbook The Art & Soul of Baking. As mostly new-comers to sweet potato pie, my family enjoyed it. Looks like I'll be bringing it next year, too :)
Things to Note:
-With Grandma Barbi's crust, really use Mazola oil. I substituted vegetable oil with two of my three crusts to use up the bottle, and after opening up the Mazola canola oil I realized the purpose of being so specific in the recipe. The Mazola oil made a moister, more pliable crust. It was a pretty amazing realization.
-To make rolling pie crust out as simple as possible, use a pie crust bag. Your dough will be perfectly round and ready to go without any extra effort.
-I chose to bake my own sweet potatoes rather than buy canned, since the recipe didn't clarify, and I didn't want the pie to be overly sweet. Two large garnet yams did the trick! It was easy enough to do the night before, so I'd recommend it.
GRANDMA BARBI'S FOOLPROOF PIE CRUST
recipe from Barbara Garber
Ingredients:
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsifted all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup Mazola oil
- 2 tablespoons cold water
1. Combine flour, salt, oil, and water. Blend thoroughly with a fork. Press firmly into a ball. (If too dry, add a little more oil.)
2. Roll between two sheets of waxed paper on a moistened counter top until large enough to cover a 9-inch pie plate.
3. For a cooked crust, prick with a fork and fill with dry beans. Bake empty shell at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
OLD FASHIONED SWEET POTATO PIE
recipe from Paula Deen, www.foodnetwork.com
serves 6 to 8
Ingredients:
- 2 cups peeled, cooked sweet potatoes
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 stick melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1-2 tablespoons bourbon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup milk
- 9-inch unbaked pie crust
- 3 egg whites
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the filling, using an electric hand mixer, combine the potatoes, 1 cup of the sugar, the butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the pie on a rack and cool to room temperature before covering with meringue.
For the meringue, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is glossy and stiff, but not dry. With a rubber spatula, spoon the meringue onto the pie, forming peaks. Make sure the meringue touches the crust all around. Sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until delicately browned. Cool and serve.
recipe and related thoughts from The Art & Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet
serves 10-12 (1 10-inch regular pie or 1 9-inch deep-dish pie)
Thanksgiving just may be everyone’s favorite holiday. After all, what’s better than a day completely devoted to a delicious feast shared by family and friends, all giving thanks for their blessings? This recipe takes an American classic to celebration status with a careful blend of spices and heavy cream, outshining the stale spice mix and evaporated milk of less enchanting recipes. Ever notice how spices clump up and don’t blend well when added to a custard? The trick is to blend them first with the eggs, whose fat helps the clumps disperse evenly, before adding any liquid to the custard mixture.
Ingredients:
- 1 recipe Flaky Pie or Tart Dough (see above), prepared through Step 8
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (about 20 grates on a whole nutmeg)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¹⁄8 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups (12 ounces) heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup (4 ounces) firmly packed
- light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (1¾ ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (16 ounces) canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- Softly Whipped Cream, for serving
- Bake the shell: Preheat the oven to 375°F and position an oven rack in the bottom third. Line the chilled pie shell with heavy-duty foil, pressing the foil firmly and smoothly into the crevices of the pan. Fill the pan with pie weights (pie weights can be ceramic or steel weights from a cookware store, which last forever, or you can use dried beans or rice from your cupboard, which will need to be replaced when they start to smell funky). Make sure the weights reach up the sides to the rim of the pan (the center does not need to be filled quite as full). Bake the shell for 20 to 22 minutes, until the foil comes away from the dough easily (if it doesn’t, then bake another 5 to 6 minutes and check again). Remove the pan from the oven, close the oven door, and lift out the foil and weights from the shell; set them aside to cool. Return the pan to the oven to continue baking the shell for about 10 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven, close the oven door, and check to see if any cracks have formed. If you see a crack, very gently smear a tiny bit of reserved dough over the crack to patch it (page 171)—you need only enough to seal the opening. Return the pan to the oven and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer, until the crust is a nice golden brown all over. Transfer to a rack and cool slightly. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F.
- While the pie crust is baking, make the filling: Whisk the eggs in the large bowl to break them up. Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt and whisk well to blend evenly. Whisk in the cream, brown sugar, and granulated sugar and blend well. Strain the mixture through the strainer into the medium saucepan, pressing on the strainer with the spatula to push through any lumps of brown sugar. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk until the custard mixture is thoroughly blended. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with the spatula and scraping all over the bottom of the pan to prevent the eggs from scrambling, for 7 to 9 minutes, until the mixture feels lightly thickened and registers 150°F on an instant-read thermometer. Do not let the mixture scramble or you’ll have to begin again. Remove from the heat.
- If the pie crust has cooled, reheat it in the oven for 5 minutes. Scrape the hot custard into the hot pie shell and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the custard is set. Test by tapping the side of the pie pan—the center of the pie should look firm and move as one piece (professionals call this the Jell-O jiggle). Transfer the pie to a rack and cool completely, about 2 hours.
- To serve, slice the pie with a thin and sharp knife and use a pie server to transfer each slice to a plate. Serve with whipped cream.
Storing: Store at room temperature for up to 8 hours. For longer storage, cover with plastic and refrigerate. Remove the pie from the refrigerator 1 hour before serving. Pumpkin pie is best the first or second day, as the crust begins to soften over time. It will keep, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Getting Ahead: The pie crust can be rolled, fitted into the pie pan, and trimmed up to 2 days before baking the pie and refrigerated, or it may be frozen for up to 1 month. The crust can be baked up to 3 days in advance and stored, wrapped in plastic, at room temperature. The ingredients for the custard can be combined 1 day in advance and kept, airtight, in the refrigerator. Do not warm the custard on the stovetop until just before you bake it.
