Sunday, November 30, 2008

TWD - Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

This weeks recipe was chosen by Vibi from La Casserole Carrée. Once again, I made something that, when left to my own devices, would not have tried! Thanks Vibi! The "Twofer Pie" is basically a pumpkin pie with pecan pie layered on top. I had problems with this recipe right from the beginning. I put flour in my food processor for a single pie crust and then promptly added the rest of the ingredients as listed for a double pie crust. I didn't want to trash a couple cups flour (King Arthur flour is $4.19 a bag in my neck of the woods!) so I added enough flour for the double crust and away I went ...... until my dough refused to come together in the food processor. I ended up finishing the dough with my hands but I was very worried that the results would be less than flaky. I pre-baked the pie crust as directed and ended up with this.

Shrinkage. I decided to go another route with the remaining pie dough. I cut the dough to fit my regular sized muffin pans and ended up with 12 crusts! I pre-baked 6 of them to use for mini Lemon Meringue pies and used the remaining 6 for mini Twofer Pies. This time around, I did not pre-bake the crust. Here they are fresh out of the oven.

The next time around (and there WILL be a next time because these were fabulous), I will more generously butter the muffin tin, including the top! These buggers were sticky!

In general, I'm a pie purist and didn't think I would care for pecan and pumpkin pie sharing the same space, but once again, I was surprised and delighted with the outcome! The pumpkin portion was perfectly cooked and the pecans added a wonderful flavor and crunch! Although I was worried about the crust, it turned out just fine! You can see a little bit of the flakiness in this photo.

As for the lemon meringue pies, they turned out ok. The filling was more tart that I would have liked and the meringue was kind of marshmallowy but overall, very tasty!

I think I may make mini pies like this from now on. It is very easy to please everyone this way and they are super cute and fun to make!

One more thing .... this recipe does not use an entire can of pumpkin. I refuse to throw it away. I won't do it. So say hello to my pumpkin mousse!! I added a little sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the pumpkin and folded it into about a cup of whipped cream.

Please check out the rest of the TWD bakers to see what they cooked up!

12 comments:

CB said...

Don't you hate when you get pie dough shrinkage?? It bugs me to no end! Love the minis. I am the same about wasting ingredients so I used my leftover pumpkin filling for a pumpkin tart. YUM! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Melissa said...

Sorry you had such problems with the dough - that can be frustrating! Your mini pies look really great. And the lemon meringue minis sound SO fabulous - and they look really good too!

Lisa magicsprinkles said...

How beautiful your meringues are! Sorry about the shrinkage factor. I always chuckle about that Seinfeld episode...

Engineer Baker said...

Yikes, shrinkage! Your mini pies are absolutely adorable though, and I love the swirl of meringue on the other pies. So pretty.

Fit Chick said...

Love your mini pies! Great idea; I have reworked Dorie's pie recipe and I don't have the shrinkage problem anymore. It is a good tasting dough.

Judy said...

Mini pies are a great idea, and yours look delicious. Even though I try different crust recipes from time to time, I always return to my tried-and-true one.

Sabrina said...

Oh those are too cute! Nice job! :)

Anonymous said...

Didn't think that pumpkin and pecans should share the same space??!! Are you for real??

I don't think I even know you anymore. ;)

Your photos, as always, are gorgeous and make me want to bake...but we know how that turns out. LOL

Unknown said...

Your mini pies look great! I love the idea of mini pies.

Liz said...

Your little pie babies are so cute! It's also a perfect method to ensure that no one overeats...not that I would know anything about that...ahem. Anyhow, nicely done!

Katrina said...

I think it's supposed to help with shrinkage by chilling the crust after putting it in the pie pan. Don't really know.
Love the mini pies. I will probably keep doing that, too. Then you don't have to worry about all the guts falling out of the pie when you try to serve a piece and everyone gets their OWN pie! The meringue is awesome! Great job.

April said...

I love that you took a problem and made it fabulous! The mini pies looks excellent.