Pumpkin Pie

Not all pumpkin pies are made equal.  Some are too mushy and sweet, some too spicy, but I found this perfect.  The filling for this pumpkin pie is a custard where the eggs set the pumpkin puree.  This puree is seasoned with spices and cream to give it a decadent texture before it goes into the pie crust.   

This is the pumpkin pie Nick requests over and over again and friends rave that it's their favorite.  I've never liked traditional pumpkin pie, however, I love this one because it's more of a custard base, similar to a creme brulee then sugar and spiced pumpkin mush.

Pumpkin Pie

Makes 2 pies (with store bought crust)

approx prep time: 20 min

approx cook time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS: 

1 package of Tenderflake deep dish pie crust (it has 2 pie shells)

2 cups of pumpkin puree

3/4 cup of firmly packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon of grated/ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups of heavy cream (35% whipping cream)

1/4 teaspoon of salt

HOW TO MAKE IT: 

Pre-bake the pie shells

1)  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2) Take out Tenderflake crusts from the box and let both crusts sit for 15 minutes to thaw.

3) Poke crust thoroughly with a fork (so the steam escapes while it bakes).

4) Put pie shells in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown on the rim.

5) Let the shell cool completely.  NOTE: This step is very important or else your pie have pock marked pumpkin pie if your pie shell is warm.  It will taste fine, it just won't be as pretty.

6) Place pie shells on a baking sheet.

Pumpkin pie mixture

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2) In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and sugar.

3) Whisk in eggs one at a time into the mixture, beating well after each addition.

4) Stir in all the spices, salt, and cream until well mixed.

5) Pour mixture equally into cooled pie shells already on a baking sheet.

6) Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the centre no longer moves when you gently move the sheet pan back and forth. In my experience, it usually takes approx 50 minutes.

7) If the crust starts to get too brown during cooking, please a aluminum foil ring over the edge to prevent further browning.  

8) Let pies cool completely and set

White and Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

My friend Melly first made these insanely awesome cookies back in the day when I lived close to her place.  She use to feed me about 3x a week.  She'd only bake with the best ingredients, so when it came to cookies, it HAD to be white chocolate Tolberones and Dark Lindt.  Now that I'm spoiled, I refuse to make cookies with any thing else.  If there was cocoa powder in the recipe, it had to be Valrhona brand (at $14.50 a 250g box, it was pricey)...and she makes the meanest chocolate bundt cake around, but that's another story for another time.  In any case, stock up on Toblerones and Lindt right after Christmas.

These are definitely one of the more chocolate infused cookies out there.  Nick loves cookies.  I love chocolate. The cookie dough is really just a vehicle to hold on to the chocolate.  I usually make them in large batches and freeze most of them so that Nick and bake up fresh cookies whenever he wants.

The ingredients

Cookie crumble batter

Close up of raw cookie crumble

Raw cookie dough ready for the freezer

Freshly baked cookies

White and Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

makes approximately 62 cookies

approx prep time: 45min

approx cook time: 10min

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour loosely packed

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 1/4 cups white sugar

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

250g of chopped Lindt bittersweet dark chocolate
200g of chopped white chocolate Toberlone

How to:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Sift together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder and baking soda; set aside.

2) In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth.

3) Beat in the eggs and vanilla, until well blended. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chunks by hand using a wooden spoon.

4) Mold cookies into 2 inch rounds.  At this point, you can either bake them or freeze them.  As you can see, I've frozen all of mine on a baking sheet lined with parchment before bagging into freezer bags.

5)  If baking:  Place each cookie dough round 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

6) Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are light brown. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.  If baking from frozen, it 10-12 minutes depending on cookie size and oven variances (it takes 11 minutes in my oven).  Don't over bake, or they won't be soft and chewy.

Modified from original recipe here.