Tags
pecan pie, pumpkin caramel, pumpkin caramel pie, pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving day pies, traditional pies
Ok, there are a few things we baked for Thanksgiving that we have previously posted recipes for on this blog, so we are just going to provide you with some links and photos!
First, we will post about the pies! It is certainly the second traditional must-have after cranberry sauce (not forgetting the turkey, of course) and the category that we had the hardest time making some concessions on.
This year, we collaborated on Thanksgiving with a friend and her family and the group of guests they were inviting and of course, I was asked to do the baking, but then we all wanted to make our families favorite pies in addition to the traditional pies for the meal and our wish list of pies was up to something like 8 pies, among other desserts for 15 people. So we cut back to just four and of the four, I made two, caramel pumpkin pie and a bourbon pecan pie.
For the caramel pecan pie, I just made up one batch of the caramel pumpkin from the caramel pumpkin bars I made back in October, using the same recipe for the shortbread bottom but rolling it out into a thin pie crust instead. It worked perfectly and the pie held together and tasted fantastic!
Since this was a recipe I have already made, I went ahead and made all the pie dough I was going to need a day in advance and then rolled out the extra bits left over from lining the pie plate to cut out some fall leaf shapes to arrange on the surface of the pie. It looked fantastic and made for a perfect little touch to tie the pie into the holiday!
The pecan pie was a first for me, it was previously a pie that I would rather buy and cover in whipped cream, so I had entirely way too much fun making this one. I adjusted Emeril’s recipe for chocolate bourbon pecan pie since I wanted to stay a bit more traditional and not let down any hardcore pecan pie eaters and left out the chocolate. But since I am completely intrigued by the idea of a chocolate pecan pie, it is definitely going on the list for another holiday occasion!
Do you like pecan pie? What pies must be on your Thanksgiving table every year?
Ingredients:
- 1-3/4 C + 2 TBS all-purpose flour
- 1/2 C + 3 TBS sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 C light corn syrup
- 3 eggs
- 5 TBS unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 C bourbon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 C finely chopped pecans
- 1 C pecan halves
First, make the dough. Place the flour and 2 TBS sugar, and 1/4 tsp of salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse until combined. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Drizzle in 3-6 TBS ice water and pulse until a dough just begins to form. Gather the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic, chill until firm about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400F/ 200C. Roll out the dough to a 13 inch circle, place into a pie plate, crimping the edges. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or beans and bake for 15 minutes.
Lower the oven temperature to 350F. Combine the corn syrup, sugar, eggs, melted butter, bourbon, vanilla and remaining salt in a large bowl & pour the egg-vanilla mixture on top. Place the pecan halves on top of the filling and bake until golden and set, about 45 minutes. Cool for 90 minutes before slicing and serving.