Thanksgiving Pies

"Men may come and men may go.....but pie goes on for ever." -- George Augustus Sala

So it's that time of year again and I am baking pies for Thanksgiving.  Do you know why?  I LOVE pie!!!  Everyone else is all into cupcakes and red velvet cake and such.  But those are getting boring.  Cupcakes are cupcakes - they all have a cake base and they're the same consistency and density.  but pies are so varied! I've done my usual Candied Apple Pie, but this year I am attempting a Pumpkin Chiffon pie and a Cocoa Cream pie.

I'll start with the cocoa cream pie  by Forgotten Way Farms.com.

I've had this one pinned for quite a while and just never got around to it. I ultimately decided to make it because the picky eaters in my family (my kids) don't eat apple or pumpkin pie.  I wanted them to have an option besides rice krispie treats, so I made this as well.  And it is AH-MAZE-ING!  My mother-in-law, who always has to find something to criticize, thought it was too chocolatey.  What?!?!?  There's no such thing!  However the seven children ages 5-14 gobbled it down with absolutely NO complaints.  Here's the recipe for My Granny's Cocoa Cream Pie :

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder (or 1/2 cup all-purpose flour)
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Mix cocoa, cornstarch, egg yolks, sugar and salt.  Gradually add milk while stirring in a pot over medium-high heat.  Cook until thick, beating it smooth.  Cream pies take some time to thicken, so stir.....and stir (10-15 minutes).  When thickened, remove from heat and add in vanilla.  Pour into a pre-baked pie shell.  Place in fridge to chill.

As usual, I forgot that the crust shrinks down a bit when it bakes, so that is why it is not all the way up the sides of the pie plate.  And I'm not sure why it is so shiny in the picture, but it was delicious!

For my next pie, I decided I wanted to make a pumpkin chiffon pie like my aunt always used to make.  I know she's given me this recipe a couple of times, but I can't find it anywhere.  I was going to ask my cousin if she could get it, but my aunt has been extremely ill, and I didn't want to add another thing to their plates.  So of course I went to Pinterest and found one which sounded like what I remember making in the past.  So I sent with the recipe by A Nostalgic Halloween.  

The major difference was that I used a regular pie crust instead of the gingersnap crust, because that is what my aunt always used and I LOVED that pie!  Here is the recipe for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 tablespoon plain gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Cook the pumpkin in a double boiler for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix egg yolks sugar and milk.  Add to pumpkin with salt, spices and melted butter.  Stir and cook until of custard consistency.  Remove from heat, add gelatin which has been softened in cold water.  Stir until dissolved.  Chill.  When mixture begins to stiffen, fold in stiffly beaten egg whites to which has been added 1/2 cup of sugar.  Pour into crust.  Chill 3 hours.  Serve with whipped cream.

Notice I did much better with this pie crust. 

But I learned a really big thing with this pie.  If you are beating egg whites in a glass bowl, you need to add some cream of tartar, or else they will not stiffen.  Who knew?  Apparently not me!  It was amazing how that cream of tartar stiffened it all up so quickly.

From my board "Eat dessert first."