October 29, 2008

Pumpkin Pie--- Ah HA!!!!


It's nearing Thanksgiving time again!!! And this year....I don't have to host! WOOHOO!!!! I think I may have found it this year.....What's it you may ask?? The perfect pumpkin pie recipe!!! Yes... sadly...I admit, I am a pumpkin pie snob.....LOL! I hate under spiced, wet, soggy bottomed crust pies......blecky. So I did some reading/research this year to scope out some new secrets!! (well new to me....some of you probably....most certainly....are WAY better cooks than I could ever hope to be and already know all this... ) The secrets I found?? Three...that make a real difference!! Any basic recipe will do....but try these few changes.....
1.) Slightly pre bake the pie shell.....some sites say egg wash the shell to make a "seal" but I'm just going to try to pre bake it a bit.
2.) Use brown sugar instead of white....Why haven't I thought of this all these years....brown has such a different flavor note.....could this be the missing...."what's in this pie that makes it so good???" Have you ever noticed how the really good pies are slightly darker?? I always thought it was just more spice....maybe it's been the molasses in the Brown sugar all along....hmmmm....although I DO always put way more spices than called for in mine ;)
3.) This is again an AH HA moment for me....why did I not think of it?? Add cornstarch or flour to help bind and thicken the pie up. In years past I had tried lessening the wet ingredients and that had so/so results....but as I looked at a million recipes on the web I noticed some of the older ones called for either a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch to the batter..... it's almost like...DUH JEN!!! If either of my grannies were still here....I bet they would have told me this .....I need more old school training!!
Now go make some yummy pies!!! Then sit back and eat a piece whilst relaxing.....that's an order :P :P

1 comment:

Ace said...

Hi Moxie,
Brown sugar and cornstarch, duh, that one had me stumped too.

I got three pumpkins that are about to meet their maker :)

Many Blessings :)
Ace