PUMPKIN PIE FROM FUCKING SCRATCH
Sep. 21st, 2010 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magedragonfireI actually meant to do this last year - which is when I took all the pictures - but never quite managed to get it all together for some reason (lazy).
But! Just in time for this fall season, I give you -
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PIE
FROM FUCKING SCRATCH
(with pictures!*)
First, we start with a pumpkin.
Or two, in my case, freshly plucked from a U-pick farmers' field. How much pumpkin you want to start with here really depends on how much puree you want for the rest of ever. Here, I wound up with enough puree to fashion two pies and umpteen more baked pumpkin-y goods for a few months. Breads, muffins, soups - they're all pretty tasty.
If it's just a couple pies you want, though, the best pumpkins to go with are the 'sugar pie' variety - they're sweeter and all around better for cooking with. I just picked one up at last week's farmers' market, actually - it was a little bigger than my hands put together, and about three pounds in weight (way, way smaller than your average jack-o-lantern pumpkin, in other words). It gave me about two or three cups of finished puree, which is more than enough for a pie. The jack-o-lantern pumpkins are much better for carving than eating, but they'll still do.
You should do up your processing a day or two before you actually need the puree, at least. It can be frozen, too, with no problems.
Anyways. Wash and dry your pumpkin, and cut the sucker in two. A big, heavy knife is recommended.
What you do next really depends on how big your pumpkin is. If you have a small pumpkin, like my above-mentioned sugar pie one, just stick the whole thing on a foil-covered sheet, seeds and strings and all, cut-side-down. If you have a bigger pumpkin, you're going to need to break it into more manageable pieces. First, clean out the strings and the seeds, and start chopping it up.
I saved the seeds, here - they're pretty tasty toasted with a wee bit of spicing.
These chunks were mostly no larger than my hand, fingers included. Spread 'em out on foil covered baking sheets...
And then wrap the sheets in foil up top, tenting it over the pumpkin.
Annnnd in they go!
Bake 'em for about 1 hr 15 min - 1 hr 30 min at 375 F. If you have a lot of pumpkin, like I did, it might take nearer to two hours, but a small single one should be done in an hour fifteen.
The flesh should pretty tender and soft at this point. A fork poked in should go through easily.
Let the pieces cool until you can handle them easily. If you left in the seeds and strings on a small pumpkin, now's the time to take 'em out. They should yield pretty easily - just don't scrape away too much of the nice, non-stringy pulp. That's your prize here, after all.
Then, we begin ze scraping.
And the blending.
It'll be done when it looks like, well, pumpkin puree.
If your puree is kind of runny, you might want to drain it first. I found that my sugar pie turned out just fine as it was, after processing, but these ones here were a bit wet. The best solution for this? Coffee filters.
You can see the stream of liquid in that above one. Once the puree is sufficiently drained, you will have - tada! - puree!
At this point, pack it up into containers and refrigerate or freeze as necessary.
Next, the all-important base of the pie - piecrust!
I wasn't as vigilant a dummy as I had been planning, and 'forgot' to get pictures of the first few ingredients. I'm sure you'll live.
In a bowl, combine two cups of flour and 1/2 tsp salt. Plunk 2/3 cup of vegetable shortening and 1/3 cup of unsalted butter in there. Proceed to cut the fats into the flour, either with two knives, or a pastry cutter.
It should be about the size of peas when you're done with it.
In another mixing vessel, combine a tbsp of white vinegar, two tbsps ice cold water, and an egg.
Beat!
Add that to your floury mixture, going 'round in a circle, and then use a fork to stir it.
Once it's mixed that much, it's time to get in there and dirty with your hands. I didn't take any pictures of the actual kneading that I do - no icky hands on the cameraware, no. I usually just mix it together with my hands until it's mostly sticking together, and then knead it a good couple of times. Anyways, you wind up with dough.
Divide it into two balls.
You can make two pumpkin pies, with these, or just wrap and freeze one for later. Whatever.
Of course, pie plates are a necessary thing.
Look at the cats, so peaceably getting along. Pie puts everyone in a good mood.
Dough-rolling-out does not have to be a difficult nor messy process. My favourite way begins with a big sheet of plastic wrap - two sheets, usually, overlapping a little bit.
Plunk your dough down, and flatten it out a bit with your hand. Cover it with another sheet of plastic wrap.
Wield your rolling tool of choice. I made do with a two-six of Captain Morgan once. Sometimes pies are called for in the roughest of kitchens. Either way, tease the dough out, rolling from the middle out to the edges. Sometimes it may get stuck under the wrap and refuse to roll further - lift the edges out and adjust as needed. Your disc should eventually reach a diameter of a foot, or so.
Peel back your top layer of wrap.
Line up your pie plate beside the dough...
And with a flourish (maybe even an AH-HA!), dump it ceremoniously (or not) into the plate. Dough side down, mind.
Peel back the final layer of wrap - do so carefully, as the dough might want to tear at this point (if it does, just press it together back into place. No one'll notice) - and fit the dough into the pie plate.
Begin folding over the edges of the dough to form a rim, and crimp it together with your fingers so you get that oh-so-fancy decorative rim.
Winding up with...
Repeat ad nauseum (or ad dough) for more pies.
We're going to bake these ones a bit before we actually put in the pumpkin filling, just so the crust goldens up a bit. Prick the bottoms with a fork a few times, and line them with foil.
Fill the foiled bottom with pie weights, if you have them, or dried beans or rice. Whicheverrrr.
Shove 'em in a 425 F oven for 15 minutes, remove the foil, and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes. The crusts should be golden at this point.
Of course, I was a dingbat and didn't take any pictures of the crusts, but whatever.
Filling!
Pumpkin pie filling is really, really easy. Most varieties basically call for eggs, pumpkin, some kind of milk or cream, sugar, and spices. You can use pretty much whatever recipe you want - I'm trying out the one in Classic Home Desserts on Thursday, but this one comes from the Joy of Cooking.
Decrease your oven temperature to 375 F, firstly. Secondly, these pictures and recipe are for two pies, so cut it in half if you're just making one.
In a large bowl, whisk together four eggs.
Add 4 cups of your pumpkin puree, 3 cups of heavy cream or evaporated milk, a cup of white sugar, and 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar.
Stir in 2 tsps cinnamon, 2 tsps ground ginger, 1 tsp of ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of cloves, and 1 tsp of salt.
You'll wind up with delicious-smelling custard. You can adjust the spices at this point, if you're feeling brave.
Pour it into your pies, trying not to upend the whole bowl onto the counter as it sloshes around. (Hey, you can kind of see the colour of the crust here.)
Bake for 35-45 minutes (again, 375 F oven). They should be cooked through, and not jiggly in the middle when you remove them. Try not to look at them too much in the oven, or they'll deflate terribly. They might crack slightly, but a cracked pie is still a tasty pie.
Cool completely before serving. Whipped cream is, of course, the traditional serving accompaniment - try flavouring it with brandy or maple syrup instead of vanilla, if you make your own. Refrigerate the pie when done with feasting, if there's any left.
HOLY SHIT, IT'S PIE FROM SCRATCH.
I took entirely too many photos. Apparently I am a neurotic git. Or really just liked taking pictures of unbeaten eggs. Or something.
* - Apologies for the shitty photo quality, but this entire thing was chronicled on my DSi. Not too bad, if I don't say so myself.**
** - Came out better than the time I took wedding dress pictures on my DSi, as we had forgotten the real camera. I must say, though, there's something*** to be said about a girl in a wedding dress holding a bright blue handheld game system being captured by the sixty billion mirrors in the bridal shop dressing room.
*** - "NERDY. NERDY NERD NERD DORK, WHY ARE YOU IN THAT GOWN? GTFO AND GET BACK TO YOUR BASEMENT."
But! Just in time for this fall season, I give you -
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PIE
FROM FUCKING SCRATCH
(with pictures!*)
First, we start with a pumpkin.
Or two, in my case, freshly plucked from a U-pick farmers' field. How much pumpkin you want to start with here really depends on how much puree you want for the rest of ever. Here, I wound up with enough puree to fashion two pies and umpteen more baked pumpkin-y goods for a few months. Breads, muffins, soups - they're all pretty tasty.
If it's just a couple pies you want, though, the best pumpkins to go with are the 'sugar pie' variety - they're sweeter and all around better for cooking with. I just picked one up at last week's farmers' market, actually - it was a little bigger than my hands put together, and about three pounds in weight (way, way smaller than your average jack-o-lantern pumpkin, in other words). It gave me about two or three cups of finished puree, which is more than enough for a pie. The jack-o-lantern pumpkins are much better for carving than eating, but they'll still do.
You should do up your processing a day or two before you actually need the puree, at least. It can be frozen, too, with no problems.
Anyways. Wash and dry your pumpkin, and cut the sucker in two. A big, heavy knife is recommended.
What you do next really depends on how big your pumpkin is. If you have a small pumpkin, like my above-mentioned sugar pie one, just stick the whole thing on a foil-covered sheet, seeds and strings and all, cut-side-down. If you have a bigger pumpkin, you're going to need to break it into more manageable pieces. First, clean out the strings and the seeds, and start chopping it up.
I saved the seeds, here - they're pretty tasty toasted with a wee bit of spicing.
These chunks were mostly no larger than my hand, fingers included. Spread 'em out on foil covered baking sheets...
And then wrap the sheets in foil up top, tenting it over the pumpkin.
Annnnd in they go!
Bake 'em for about 1 hr 15 min - 1 hr 30 min at 375 F. If you have a lot of pumpkin, like I did, it might take nearer to two hours, but a small single one should be done in an hour fifteen.
The flesh should pretty tender and soft at this point. A fork poked in should go through easily.
Let the pieces cool until you can handle them easily. If you left in the seeds and strings on a small pumpkin, now's the time to take 'em out. They should yield pretty easily - just don't scrape away too much of the nice, non-stringy pulp. That's your prize here, after all.
Then, we begin ze scraping.
And the blending.
It'll be done when it looks like, well, pumpkin puree.
If your puree is kind of runny, you might want to drain it first. I found that my sugar pie turned out just fine as it was, after processing, but these ones here were a bit wet. The best solution for this? Coffee filters.
You can see the stream of liquid in that above one. Once the puree is sufficiently drained, you will have - tada! - puree!
At this point, pack it up into containers and refrigerate or freeze as necessary.
Next, the all-important base of the pie - piecrust!
I wasn't as vigilant a dummy as I had been planning, and 'forgot' to get pictures of the first few ingredients. I'm sure you'll live.
In a bowl, combine two cups of flour and 1/2 tsp salt. Plunk 2/3 cup of vegetable shortening and 1/3 cup of unsalted butter in there. Proceed to cut the fats into the flour, either with two knives, or a pastry cutter.
It should be about the size of peas when you're done with it.
In another mixing vessel, combine a tbsp of white vinegar, two tbsps ice cold water, and an egg.
Beat!
Add that to your floury mixture, going 'round in a circle, and then use a fork to stir it.
Once it's mixed that much, it's time to get in there and dirty with your hands. I didn't take any pictures of the actual kneading that I do - no icky hands on the cameraware, no. I usually just mix it together with my hands until it's mostly sticking together, and then knead it a good couple of times. Anyways, you wind up with dough.
Divide it into two balls.
You can make two pumpkin pies, with these, or just wrap and freeze one for later. Whatever.
Of course, pie plates are a necessary thing.
Look at the cats, so peaceably getting along. Pie puts everyone in a good mood.
Dough-rolling-out does not have to be a difficult nor messy process. My favourite way begins with a big sheet of plastic wrap - two sheets, usually, overlapping a little bit.
Plunk your dough down, and flatten it out a bit with your hand. Cover it with another sheet of plastic wrap.
Wield your rolling tool of choice. I made do with a two-six of Captain Morgan once. Sometimes pies are called for in the roughest of kitchens. Either way, tease the dough out, rolling from the middle out to the edges. Sometimes it may get stuck under the wrap and refuse to roll further - lift the edges out and adjust as needed. Your disc should eventually reach a diameter of a foot, or so.
Peel back your top layer of wrap.
Line up your pie plate beside the dough...
And with a flourish (maybe even an AH-HA!), dump it ceremoniously (or not) into the plate. Dough side down, mind.
Peel back the final layer of wrap - do so carefully, as the dough might want to tear at this point (if it does, just press it together back into place. No one'll notice) - and fit the dough into the pie plate.
Begin folding over the edges of the dough to form a rim, and crimp it together with your fingers so you get that oh-so-fancy decorative rim.
Winding up with...
Repeat ad nauseum (or ad dough) for more pies.
We're going to bake these ones a bit before we actually put in the pumpkin filling, just so the crust goldens up a bit. Prick the bottoms with a fork a few times, and line them with foil.
Fill the foiled bottom with pie weights, if you have them, or dried beans or rice. Whicheverrrr.
Shove 'em in a 425 F oven for 15 minutes, remove the foil, and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes. The crusts should be golden at this point.
Of course, I was a dingbat and didn't take any pictures of the crusts, but whatever.
Filling!
Pumpkin pie filling is really, really easy. Most varieties basically call for eggs, pumpkin, some kind of milk or cream, sugar, and spices. You can use pretty much whatever recipe you want - I'm trying out the one in Classic Home Desserts on Thursday, but this one comes from the Joy of Cooking.
Decrease your oven temperature to 375 F, firstly. Secondly, these pictures and recipe are for two pies, so cut it in half if you're just making one.
In a large bowl, whisk together four eggs.
Add 4 cups of your pumpkin puree, 3 cups of heavy cream or evaporated milk, a cup of white sugar, and 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar.
Stir in 2 tsps cinnamon, 2 tsps ground ginger, 1 tsp of ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of cloves, and 1 tsp of salt.
You'll wind up with delicious-smelling custard. You can adjust the spices at this point, if you're feeling brave.
Pour it into your pies, trying not to upend the whole bowl onto the counter as it sloshes around. (Hey, you can kind of see the colour of the crust here.)
Bake for 35-45 minutes (again, 375 F oven). They should be cooked through, and not jiggly in the middle when you remove them. Try not to look at them too much in the oven, or they'll deflate terribly. They might crack slightly, but a cracked pie is still a tasty pie.
Cool completely before serving. Whipped cream is, of course, the traditional serving accompaniment - try flavouring it with brandy or maple syrup instead of vanilla, if you make your own. Refrigerate the pie when done with feasting, if there's any left.
HOLY SHIT, IT'S PIE FROM SCRATCH.
I took entirely too many photos. Apparently I am a neurotic git. Or really just liked taking pictures of unbeaten eggs. Or something.
* - Apologies for the shitty photo quality, but this entire thing was chronicled on my DSi. Not too bad, if I don't say so myself.**
** - Came out better than the time I took wedding dress pictures on my DSi, as we had forgotten the real camera. I must say, though, there's something*** to be said about a girl in a wedding dress holding a bright blue handheld game system being captured by the sixty billion mirrors in the bridal shop dressing room.
*** - "NERDY. NERDY NERD NERD DORK, WHY ARE YOU IN THAT GOWN? GTFO AND GET BACK TO YOUR BASEMENT."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 06:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 06:25 pm (UTC)I'm not sure why I actually took so many photos - I'm sure there are a few unnecessary ones. But it was fun doing it!
no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 07:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 06:36 pm (UTC)I'm not sure where I got the idea from, at the time. I think I'd probably been halfways inspired by Killer Pies - the pumpkin pie recipe they have in there is made with fresh pumpkin, but it says to do it by boiling in a big pot instead of baking it, and then going through a rigamarole draining process involving cheesecloth. I figured that baking would probably be easier, and I can't help thinking that it was the right choice. :3
With a small pumpkin, it's even easier, since you don't have to chop it all up. Took me no time at all to process the little one I had - most of it was just waiting 'round for it to bake and cool, hehe.
(The cats are only adorable there because they were, miraculously, not fighting. I think that's probably why I took that picture, at the time - they don't tend to get along too well, alas.)