A Pie Per Week: Streusel Topped Pumpkin Pie

Streusel Topped Pumpkin Pie

Brian:  Are you ready?  I am so excited for the World Series of Pie, commonly referred to as Thanksgiving.  I am also really excited because this has been the 3rd really great recipe we have made in a row.  Thanks for the ideas people, and please keep them coming.

Rear View of a Slice of Pie

Angie:  I am so excited for Thanksgiving!  As you probably know by now, if you follow our blog, family is really important to me.  I'm really excited to spend time with everybody as we all share food, and yes... we will be bringing some pies.  :)  We had planned on a traditional pumpkin pie this week. After having a Facebook conversation with some friends, one of them mentioned this pie and I was completely on board to try it!!  This is a great twist on a classic pie.  As you might guess, pumpkin is where we begin.

Pumpkin... a Key Ingredient in Pumpkin Pie

Brian:  This was actually a pie made primarily by myself and Emilee.  You start with the pumpkin, and then you add the sweetened condensed milk.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Angie:  next, you add your egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and ginger.  We were actually out of ginger, so we substituted pumpkin pie spice for that ingredient.  Mix well.

Egg and Spices

Brian:  Next pour your pie filling in, and you can have it baking at 425 degrees F, while you prepare your streusel.  And the streusel is where we take this pie from good to great!

Making the Streusel Topping

Angie:  You combine your brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl.  You then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until it has the texture of coarse crumbs.  After that, you add the walnuts to the mixture.

Cutting in the Butter

Brian:  Did I mention that I forgot to add the walnuts?  Anyway, after your pie has been in the oven for 15 minutes, take it out and add your streusel.  I had first tried to use a spoon, but as I watched how much better Emilee was doing by spreading it by hand, I opted for that method as well.  Place the pie back in the oven at the reduced heat of 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  For our two pies, we ended up in adding an additional 10 minutes, but as always... give it the jiggle test to make sure the pie is set.

Streusel Topping Added

Angie:  Wow, we are really hitting on some really good pies recently.  If you love pumpkin pie, you have to try this one!!

A Little Slice of Heaven

Brian:  I thought this pie was FANTASTIC!  The flavor of the pumpkin was tasty in it's own right, and the streusel topping just takes it to another level.  Add some whipped topping for a flavor trifecta!

Pie Recipient of the Week

This week our pie recipient was Emilee's teacher Mr. Bradley.  Mr. Bradley has been a wonderful teacher and we are lucky enough that he has been the teacher for all three of our children .  She was a little nervous about taking it to school and giving it to him in front of her friends.  However, he was very gracious and excited about the pie, and gave her a thank you note before the end of the school day.  

Recipe

Ingredients

Pumpkin Pie

1 15 ounce Can Pumpkin

1 14 ounce Can Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk)

1 Egg

3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup Brown Sugar (firmly packed)

2 tablespoon Flour

2 tablespoon Cold Butter

3/4 cup Walnuts (chopped medium fine)

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Instructions

Pumpkin Pie

In bowl mix pumpkin, condensed milk, spices, egg, and salt. Blend well and pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. While pie is baking mix streusel topping.

Streusel Topping

In small bowl with a pastry cutter (or 2 knives) blend flour, butter, add brown sugar and cinnamon, blend all until it you have coarse crumbs. Add nuts and mix well.

When pie has baked at 425 for 15 minutes, take out of oven and sprinkle streusel on top, covering evenly. Turn oven down to 350 and place pie back in the oven and bake for 35 - 40 minutes longer until pie is done. Make sure the pie has set and does not jiggle when you move it.

Pie may be served warm or at room temperature.

About Your Bakers

A Pie Per Week: Caramel Apple Cranberry Pie

Caramel Apple Cranberry Pie

Brian:  It has been a pretty scary day across the Midwest, so first and foremost, I hope all of you are safe.  We were only moderately affected by the storms, as our power went off for awhile.  Unfortunately, it happened while we were baking our pies.

Angie:  Fortunately, it was at the end of the baking time, so we just let the pies sit in the oven, and they turned out just fine.  We also became one of those people, you know the people who put their tree up before Thanksgiving? Guilty! I know many people who hate when others do this.  Two years ago my kids said I was always grumpy about putting up the Christmas decorations.  I think the direct quote was "It isn't Christmas until mom threatens to not put up the Christmas tree!"  I vowed not to be the grump ever again so last year the tree and decorations went up the day after Halloween!  I will always put up the tree early and with enthusiasm from now on!!

Christmas in November

Brian:  We don't have an attic, so we always have to go out to our storage shed for our Christmas decorations.  It is much easier to do before the snow comes, and it is nice to be a bit ahead of schedule.  However, in the kitchen we were still focused on the Fall, hence a caramel apple cranberry pie.  A good start is to get your apples ready.

Apple peelers are the bomb

Angie:  It has been a big week in our household, as our son has been accepted to Indiana University, the school he has always wanted to attend.  We are really proud of him, but we are in no way ready to see him go.  He manned the apple peeler helping us get ready for this pie.  Isn't he the most precious thing?  I'll never forget when he was old enough to talk and whenever we held a camera to video him or take a picture he always wanted to see what we were taking pictures of and he would say "I see, I wook (look) it mommy."  No matter how he grows I will always see that little boy.

Connor the apple peeler

Angie:  Ok, back to the pie...  You start by soaking your apples in your lemon juice/water mixture to keep them from turning brown.  Meanwhile you can preheat your oven to 425 degrees as you press in your crust and start to prepare your fruit mixture.  I began working on the crust, with a recipe I swore I would never use again, because it kept crumbling when I tried to form the dough.

Brian:  While Angie worked on that, Emilee and I began working on the pie filling.  We began by melting the butter and adding the corn starch.  Next we added the water and vanilla, and then started adding the dry ingredients.  After that was all mixed well, we drained the water from the apples, and added them and the dried cranberries to the mixture.  We simmered about five minutes.

Angie:  Next, you pour the apple mixture into the pastry shell.

Adding the pie filling

Brian:  There were three different meals Angie was helping prepare for church this morning, so we really intended on buying a store bought crust.  However, Angie is more than capable of making a crust, so she set to work her magic.

Adding the lattice

Angie:  After adding the top pastry, it was off to the oven, where you bake for 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, and then you reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for additional 30-40 minutes.  This is where we ran into problems.  We made it through the first 15 minutes and reduced the heat, but when our power went out, so did our timer.  So we weren't exactly sure how much time remained.  We decided to leave the pies in the oven, and when we took them out, fortunately they were done!

Brian:  Wow was this pie tasty!  I really felt like we have hit a home run the last two weeks, so hopefully the streak continues. Ironically, though my wife admonished the crust while making it, it was delicious!  Our pie of the week recipient asked how we made our pie crusts so perfect, and all I could do was chuckle.  :)

Care for a slice?

Angie:  I'm thrilled with how the crust turned out, but wow, it was really hard to work with!  The flavor and texture of this pie was amazing.  It was light and the cranberries added just a little punch.  I really think I'll make this one for Thanksgiving!!  We normally change the recipes for the pies to make them to our liking.  This recipe had so many good reviews we didn't change a thing!

Pie Recipient of the Week

Our pie recipients of the week are Garth and Jenny.  They are both very active in serving at our church, particularly on our worship teams.  Brian and Jenny have participated in the drama ministry in the past, and currently, Jenny provides vocal lessons to our youngest daughter Emilee.

They are really great people, and we have had them on our list of pie recipients for awhile.  When Brian posted the recipe on Angie's Facebook wall, and Jenny mentioned how good it looked, it seemed like the right time.  Jenny even mentioned she was out getting some ingredients to make the pie when we dropped it off with Garth.  

Recipe (From allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS:

1 pastry for a 9-inch double crust pie

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 Granny Smith apples

1/2 cup butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup dried cranberries

1 tablespoon white sugar (optional)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Press one of the pie pastries into a 9-inch pie plate; reserve the remaining pastry.

2. Pour the lemon juice into a container that large enough for the apples and fill halfway with cold water. Peel and slice the apples into the lemon water; set aside.

3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cornstarch to form a paste. Stir in 2 tablespoons of water along with the vanilla extract, 1/2 cup white sugar, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and nutmeg; bring to a simmer. Drain the apples and add them to the sugar mixture along with the cranberries. Cook and stir 5 minutes; remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

4. Pour the fruit into the pie plate and press on the top crust. Stir together 1 tablespoon of white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon; sprinkle over the pie.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes; reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking until the top crust is golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

About Your Bakers

A Pie Per Week: Buttermilk Pie

Buttermilk Pie

Brian:  I have to admit, buttermilk pie does not sound like the tastiest of pies.  I mean if you are speaking of buttermilk biscuits, or buttermilk pancakes, I am on board.  But buttermilk pie?

Buttermilk 

Angie:  For me I associate buttermilk with richness, so I had high expectations of this pie.  Brian's cousin Susan mentioned how much her son likes it, so let's get this pie started!

Butter, a good start to any pie!

Brian:  This is a pretty simple pie to make.  You literally combine all of the ingredients together, except for the nutmeg, and bake.  I started by softening the butter in the microwave.

Smooth like butter

Angie:   Add the sugar and 4 eggs.

Eggs and sugar

Brian:  The recipe calls for 3 tbsp of flour.

Add your flour and pinch of salt

Angie:  Add a pinch of salt and a tsp. of vanilla, whisk the ingredients together, and you are ready to go!

Vanilla

Brian:  Just pour your mixture into your pie shell, and it is time to bake.

Add to pie shell

Angie:  Put the pie in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 45 minutes.  Watch this pie though, we probably should have taken ours out a bit sooner.

Emilee giving her thumbs up

Brian:  This pie was really, really fantastic.  My mom has always made a dessert called "Mary's Marvelous Mess," which is part brownie and part cake.  It is very similar to what Paula Dean calls a gooey butter cake, and this is the pie version of that dessert.

Side View

Angie:  This pie was amazing.  I loved the texture and the flavor.  I'm telling you, it is GOOD!!

Delicious pie!

Pie Recipient of the Week

Our Pie of the Week Recipient is Scott Thomas.  The entire time I have worked at ExactTarget, I've existed somewhere on his team, and he is the Director of the Global Product Enablement team I work on now.  He has a great wife, two kids, and one on the way.  We are happy to send a pie his way.

Recipe (From a shared Facebook Recipe)

BUTTERMILK PIE:

1/2c buttermilk

1 3/4c sugar

2 large eggs

3tbsp flour

pinch of salt

1 stick butter

1tsp vanilla

nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400°. Mix everything together and pour into an unbaked 9" pieshell. Sprinkle the top lightly with nutmeg. Bake 15min. Reduce oven to 350° and bake 45min. Watch the crust and add a pie guard or foil to prevent crust from burning.  Cool to allow filling to set.

About Your Bakers

A Pie Per Week: Gooseberry Pie

Gooseberry Pie

Brian:  Ever since we picked up a pie booklet with a recipe, Hoosier Gooseberry Pie, I've wanted to add that to our list.  First of all, I'd never eaten a gooseberry, and secondarily I like to make recipes indigenous to our area of the world.  Gooseberries certainly are of the world, and you can read more about them here.

Gooseberries!

Angie:  I found out from my Aunt Sandi that this was my grandfather's favorite pie, so I was glad to be able to try it.  However, I will tell you, this was the most difficult pie we have ever made, in terms of preparation.  We bought the berries frozen, and if you look at the picture below, there were stems on each berry.  

Gooseberries with stem.  Boo.

Brian:  We tried one, and they are extremely sour, and the stem just didn't seem like it would taste good.  So we decided to trim the stems... one gooseberry at a time.  It took the two of us working 2 hours, just to get the 4 cups necessary for one pie.  We didn't have enough time to spend another two hours on berries, so we ended up not having a pie of the week recipient.

Adding the ingredients

Angie:  Preparing the pie proved to be much easier than trimming the berries.  You place your berries, sugar, cornstarch, butter, salt, and nutmeg in the saucepan over low heat, and cook until the sugar is melted and the butter is soft and let cool.  The recipe called for tapioca, but as I don't like the texture of tapioca, I substituted corn starch.  One of the things I learned is that gooseberries have lots of pectin in them, so they have a built in thickening agent.

Gooseberries mixture cooking over low heat

Brian:  I liked this pie, but it wasn't a big hit with the kids.  It is definitely a tart berry, but I really enjoy trying new things.  I will say this, if I ever make this again, I'm going to make sure the stems are removed, because that was a job!

Angie:  I liked the sourness of the gooseberries raw.  I did not try any of this pie so I can't comment on the taste, but it smelled delicious!!

Pie Recipe

1 9-inch unbaked double pie crust

4 C Gooseberries

1 3/4 C Sugar

2 Tbs. Corn Starch

2 Tbs. Butter

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Gently wash berries and remove stems.  Add all ingredients to the sauce pan and put on low heat until sugar is melted and berries are soft.  Let cool and then add to your unbaked pie crust, pinching edges to seal.  Make 5-6 slashes in top crust and bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 30 minutes longer.  Filling should be nice and bubbly through the slashes, like with most fruit pies.

About Your Bakers