Friday, November 12, 2010

A Must-Make Recipe: Dorie Greenspan's Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

If you bake one pie this Thanksgiving Day, make it Dorie's Greenspan's Thanksgiving Twofer Pie. Two of Thanksgiving's most cherished pies, pumpkin and pecan, are gloriously united to create a unique spiced-laced, sticky-sweet, nutty, pumpkin-y pie.

Don't you just love a twofer?

Dorie Greenspan's Two-Fer Thanksgiving Pie

Dorie Greenspan's Thanksgiving Twofer Pie
Makes 1 (9-inch) pie
Printable recipe.

This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours.
You can serve this pie warm or at room temperature, though I prefer it chilled. And don't forget the freshly whipped cream. 

1 Good For Almost Everything Pie Dough: See Dorie’s recipe here.

For the pumpkin filling:
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin purée
2/3 cup heavy cream
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons dark rum
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon salt

For the pecan filling:
½ cup corn syrup
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1½ cups (about 7 ounces) pecan halves

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

2. To make the pumpkin filling: Put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse and process, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed, for 2 minutes. Leave the tilling the processor for the moment.

3. To make the pecan filling: in a medium bowl, with a whisk, beat all of the ingredients except the pecans together until smooth.

4. To assemble: Give the pumpkin filling one last quick pulse, then remove the bowl from the machine, rap it on the counter to de-bubble the batter and put the filling into the piecrust. Top the pumpkin filling evenly with the nuts, then pour over the pecan filling mixture. Use your finger to poke down any pecans that float to the top and aren't covered with filling.

5. Bake the pie for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F and bake for another 35-40 minutes, or until it is evenly puffed and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and let it stand until it is just warm or until it reaches room temperature.