Pumpkin Pie — Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

It’s nearly over, a day of thanks and feasting. We are set to have pumpkin pie with real whipped cream in a bit, when the beaters chill off in the freezer enough to whip up the cream.

Here’s the recipe for the pie, taken from Nourishing Traditions, (originally 1 pie)

Pumpkin Pie
(for 2 pies)

2 pie crusts

29 oz. can of puree’d pumpkin (or equivalent)
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups sucanat
2 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 Teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon sea salt
1/2 Teaspoon powdered cloves
1/2 Teaspoon nutmeg
grated rind of 2 lemons
2 cups piima cream or creme fraiche (or sour cream, like Daisy brand Sour Cream)
4 Tablespoons brandy (optional)

Cream eggs with sucanat. Gradually blend in other ingredients. Pour into pie shells and bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 to 45 minutes.

Here’s what I did actually: as I had fresh ginger on hand, but totally overlooked it in the recipe for some reason, when I made the pies today. (I hadn’t done that before when I made this recipe!)

29 oz. can of puree’d pumpkin (or equivalent)
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups Rapadura
2 Teaspoons ground ginger
2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon sea salt
1/2 Teaspoon ground cloves
1 Teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 cups Daisy brand Sour Cream
4 Tablespoons Jack Daniels Whiskey

Baking the pies took the long time. Check them the traditional way, by putting a clean kitchen knife halfway between the edge and the middle of the pie, drawing it carefully out — if the knife is clean, the pie is done. If pie filling clings to the knife, bake the pie for 5 or so minutes longer. If you are accustomed to making pumpkin pies, you can see the doneness with your eyes.

Cool the pie(s) on a wire rack, then refrigerate. Allow to come to room temperature for serving, if desired (for best flavour IMO).

Making the pies this way, the pie does shrink from the edge a bit, unlike the “traditional made-with-evaporated-milk way”, but that is more than forgiveable for a totally out of this world taste. Exquisite, the soured cream is a delightful change.

Using freshly ground spices is even better. Alas for this Thanksgiving, we went the pre-ground route, ala accident. I always grind my own nutmeg since purchasing a nice lucite nutmeg grinder. So I did use that. But the ginger, it’s also incredible to use. Having a root of it and not using it, well I’ll use it soon enough. Pumpkin Pie is good year round, but especially late Autumn thru Winter.

So, if you like Pumpkin Pie, try it with sour cream, freshly ground spices, and try the Jack or brandy. It’s well worth it.