The Old Educator's Family
Thanksgiving
Desserts: Pumpkin Pie and
Dutch Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:
15-oz can canned solid-pack pumpkin (about 2 cups)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
Special equipment: pie weights or raw rice
Accompaniment: lightly whipped cream
Make pastry dough as directed. Roll out
dough into a 14-inch round on a lightly floured surface and fit into a
9-inch glass pie plate (4-cup capacity). Crimp edge decoratively and prick
bottom all over. Chill 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°°F.
Line shell with foil and fill with pie
weights. Bake in middle of oven 20 minutes. Remove weights and foil and
bake shell until pale golden, 6 to 10 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack.
Whisk together pumpkin, cream, milk, eggs, brown sugar, spices, and salt,
then pour into shell.
Bake pie in middle of oven 45 to 50
minutes, or until filling is set but center still trembles slightly.
(Filling will continue to set as pie cools.) Transfer to rack and cool
completely.
Cooks' notes:
• To prevent over-baking custard, you should start checking the pie's
doneness at 45 minutes, as ovens vary.
• Pie may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered, but crust will not
be as crisp as if made day of serving.
Pastry
Dough
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water
To blend by hand:
Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your
fingertips or a pastry blender until most of mixture resembles coarse
meal, with rest in small (roughly pea-size) lumps. Drizzle 2 tablespoons
ice water evenly over and gently stir with a fork until incorporated.
To blend in a food processor:
Pulse together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a food processor
until most of mixture resembles coarse meal, with rest in small (roughly
pea-size) lumps. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and pulse 2 or 3 times, or
just until incorporated.
Test mixture:
Gently squeeze a small handful: It should hold together without crumbling
apart. If it doesn't, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring
or pulsing 2 or 3 times after each addition until incorporated (keep
testing). (If you overwork mixture or add too much water, pastry will be
tough.)
Form dough:
Turn out onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your
hand, smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat.
Gather dough together and form it, rotating it on work surface, into a
disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
Cooks' note:
• Dough can be chilled up to 1 day.
Makes enough dough for a
single-crust 9-inch pie or a 10- to 11-inch tart.
5 large Granny Smith apples -
peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch
single crust pie or ready-made
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220
degrees C).
Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon. Pour over
apples in crust. Sprinkle lemon juice on top.
Cut 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup butter or margarine
together, and top pie with the mixture.
Take two 15 inch pieces of parchment paper and enclose pie; fold
edges up 3 times. Place on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven, split parchment
open and cool pie on wire rack. DO NOT open parchment covering while
baking! Serve warm, or at room temperature.
