For most of us, traditions offer a certain level of comfort and evoke memories of times past with family or friends that may no longer be with us. It’s like those comfy slippers that you’ve been resurrecting for the past 10 years or those blue jeans that you still have since your high school days…the ones that somehow remember every curve of your body and feel like a second skin…
For some reason we just can’t let them go…
It’s around this time of the year that we begin to remember some of these traditions… some of which have the power to quickly transport us to a different space and time. Traditions have their place in life just like anything else, and every now and then we reach back into our past and pull them from the history books because they somehow help us to feel whole again…
When it comes to some things like food, techniques and ingredients may have evolved over the years, yet it is our connection with tradition that may prevent us from trying something new to enhance a good recipe and help make it better.
Pure and simple…that was my goal here.
I’m a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but sometimes you just want something different because traditional desserts can become so…predictable. Along with the predictable moniker comes boring, especially when there is no variation. I think that may be true with just about anything in life, but is especially true when it comes to food.
Well, if you don’t know me by now, let me tell you a little secret…
‘Tweak’ is my middle name.
My nature has always been to improve things by changing things around, so it was not difficult for me to take on the task of jazzing up a traditional pumpkin pie recipe.
My first inclination is to always add dark chocolate to a pumpkin dessert, and for this one I also added some instant coffee to elevate the chocolate flavor note. You need this for pumpkin desserts, and if you don’t add the chocolate, then a caramel or maple flavor is something that is also complimentary if you don’t want to overload on more spices.
I took a basic Libby pumpkin pie recipe and added a few other ingredients to it. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel if you don’t need to…
I then prepared my butterscotch pudding recipe and when the pie came out of the oven, I poured the pudding over the top to create the other half of the pie. Once it had cooled, I topped it with a quenelle of sweetened whipped cream, but you can also add meringue or a drizzle of chocolate glaze. There’s lots of great flavor in this little pie, so don’t feel like you have to cover it up with too much stuff.
Let it sit there on the plate, without too much help… in all of its delicious glory.
Chocolate Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie in Gingersnap Crust
For the crust:
2 ½ cups ground gingersnap cookies
1 stick melted butter
Measure out 2 ½ cups of ground gingersnap crumbs and place them in a medium sized bowl. Melt the butter and pour into the crumbs. Use a spoon to stir everything together until the crumbs hold together when you squeeze them. Pour them into your tart rim or pie dish and use the bottom of a cup or a can to flatten out the crust. I have an old jar lid that serves this purpose. Once the crust is flattened out, bake in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.
Libby Pumpkin Pie Filling (makes 1 whole pie)
15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 can evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 cup sugar (I increased from ¾ cup)
1 cup dark chocolate, melted
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon (I increased from 1 teaspoon)
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg (I added)
½ teaspoon salt (I did not add)
Add all of the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk until everything is blended well together and set aside until you have baked the crust. This recipe will make 1 whole pie or 2 pies that are half filled. For this type of pie, you will only fill the pie crust half way and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350°F until it has completely set. Remove from the oven and pour over the butterscotch pudding, cover the entire surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate. You must do this so that the custard does not form a skin. Allow this to chill completely before serving.
Butterscotch Pudding
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
6 yolks
3 tablespoon cornstarch, sifted
½ stick of butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
1-2 tablespoons maple extract
When the pumpkin pie is in the oven and almost ready to remove, begin to make the pudding. Add the egg yolks, sifted cornstarch and maple extract to a medium sized bowl and whisk everything together until completely mixed and then set aside. Heat the milk and cream in a medium size pot until scalded but not boiling. Melt the butter and both sugars in a small pan until they begin to caramelize slightly and then add to the milk/cream mixture and then into the egg yolks. Temper this into the yolks and then add everything back into the pot that had the milk/cream in it and using a whisk, cook the butterscotch on the stove top until it has thickened, about 7-10 minutes. Make sure to coordinate the times of the pie and the pudding so that they are both finished at the same time. Once the pudding is ready, strain it through a wire mesh and into a medium sized bowl. Do this to make sure that there are no lumps. The pudding should still be warm when you pour it over the baked pumpkin filling in the crust. It will fill the pie shell much nicer and set smoothly if made this way. Immediately cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap so that a skin does not form on the surface, and refrigerate until completely set. I served with slightly sweetened whipped cream.
Leave a Reply