With all the preparations needed for the feast, baking pies was always the farthest from my mind, so I would purchase pies from the local farmers' markets. This year though, I decided that I had the time to spare and made the pies. Of course everyone was given a steadfast warning, "disturb me while I'm baking and you take your life into your own hands". Yeah, I'm that serious when I'm in the kitchen and need to concentrate; baking takes concentration.
Anyway, the pies came out just fine and it was very hard to resist cutting a slice of each, just to try of course. So here are my recipes for pumpkin and pecan pies.
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:
½ cup pecan halves (optional)
2 (9 inch) unbaked or frozen deep dish pie crusts
1 (29 oz) can pumpkin
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp each of ground nutmeg, ginger and cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk (shake slightly before opening)
3 Tbsp brown sugar, divided in half
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425F; place a jelly roll pan in oven to warm up. (this will keep the pan from warping while the pies bake). Divide pecans, if using, between the 2 pie crusts, pressing them down slightly into the bottom of the pie pans. (be careful to not go through the crusts)
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices, vanilla and eggs. One can at a time, beat in the evaporated milk until well incorporated into the pumpkin mixture. Remove jelly roll pan from oven and place pie pans on top; ladle pumpkin filling into each until it reaches the interior edge. Sprinkle 1 ½ Tbsp brown sugar over the tops of each pie. (as the pies bake, the brown sugar will produce a crème brule’ effect)
Bake pies at 425 F for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350F and bake an additional 50-60 minutes; a knife will come out cleanly from center when done. Let pies cool for 2 hours before serving.
Each pie makes 8 servings.
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Pecan Pie
(Recipe is from Karo Syrup with 2 changes: 1 Tbsp vanilla extract instead of 1 tsp.; 1 ¾ cups pecan halves instead of 1 ½ cups)
Ingredients:
1 cup light or dark corn syrup
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups pecan halves
1 (9 inch) unbaked or frozen deep dish pie crust
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F; place a jelly roll pan in oven. (warming the pan will keep it from warping as the pie bakes) Place crust into pie pan if it isn’t already done so.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the pie crust; pour into the pie crust and place onto center of warmed jelly roll pan. Bake for 50-70 minutes; pie will be done when pressing down lightly in the center, it springs back. Let pie cool for 2 hours before serving.
Makes 8 servings,
Mary Cokenour
