Since I have an insane amount of pumpkin purée filling my freezer, I’ve started in on the pie making!
I decided to try a new recipe, since I wasn’t that happy w/the one I had been using. I just Googled “pumpkin pie recipe,” and came across one from Paula Deen‘s site. I have so much confidence that this one will work out, especially since it uses cream cheese, half-n-half, and loads of sugar. How could it not, really?!
Anyway, I made a crust, rather than buying one- I’m still really happy w/the addition of butter into my old pie recipe, it’s so good!
Next came the blind-baking: baking the crust a bit before adding the filling. Also, this is when I encountered the weirdest baking term ever: pie weight. Sorry?? No idea. I followed the recipe, bc it said to use pie weights or dried beans (opted for dried beans), and went ahead. But, immediately after, I Googled “pie weights.” (Love Google!) Apparently, one uses pie weights (which look like dried beans, actually) to ensure that, when blind-baking, the crust doesn’t bubbled or curl. Interesting…
After that, I followed the recipe for the filling- using 2 cups of my purée, which after I got rid of the excess water, needed to use a third bag from the freezer! At this point, though, I have a hard time believing that it’ll actually taste like pumpkin pie, bc…it’s yellow, for one thing, thanks to the cream cheese, and for another…meh, I don’t know. I’m sure it’ll be good, but just kinda doubt that it’ll taste…right. Why am I doubting this- it’s Paula Deen! 😉
Into the oven for 50 minutes:
I’ll be back when it’s ready!
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Just took it out of the oven, and…it looks great! Also- the house smells really good, which is always nice.
I stuck a butter knife into the center of the pie, just to see if it seemed done- needed about 5 more minutes, bc there was a lot of sticking, but after that…perfect! Can’t wait to try it- I’ll have more of a verdict after the taste test, but so far, seems great!
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I have to say that, despite its yummy appearance, that I am not a huge fan of this pie! It’s just…ugh, it’s like a pumpkin pie for people that don’t like pumpkin pie! I mean, there aren’t really any of the traditional pumpkin-pie flavors in it, and those are the ones I love- flavors like cloves and allspice.
But, this has been pretty helpful- I think the next time I make pumpkin pie, I’ll merge the two recipes. For instance, I think I might use the half-n-half instead of regular milk as I had w/the old recipe, and I think I’ll use the 2 cups of pumpkin, instead of the one, as I had before. But, I will definitely use the spices from my old recipe next time!
Oh well- this was just a first attempt! I have plenty of pumpkin to keep practicing with! 🙂
* On the upside, the kids loved it! *
October 5, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Yum this one looks really good! May need to give it a try. I’ve been using the recipe on the back of Libby’s pumpkin can and it’s good, but I’d like to try something else. Do you have to use your own pumpkin puree? Also an easier way to prevent bubbles (rather than the beans) is to put some small fork holes in the crust so it can vent.