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Sunday, October 14, 2012

Little Pumpkin Pies



The Little Pumpkin Blog...

In my blog this week, I mentioned that my neighbor Tricia brought over a pumpkin pie for our Fall-Fest dinner. While we were at our Publix grocery store yesterday, my husband suggested that we pick up ingredients to make another one, since Tricia’s was so yummy. It was almost all we could think about as we walked the isles! As Tricia did, we used Libby’s canned Pumpkin filling, not the Pumpkin Pie filling; we wanted to add our own spices.  Following the recipe on the back of the can, all I needed to get was the filling, condensed milk and a pie crust. I normally make my own crusts, but for time sake, I cheated a little and got a two-pack of frozen crusts (Publix brand). 

The pie-making process started out hunky-dory, then, things went slightly awry... After mixing the ingredients, I noticed that my pie crust was not deep enough for all the filling. I made the mistake of going for the least expensive crust - it was regular, not deep dish.  Too much filling for one crust, but not enough for two - Oops!  Not to fear, I improvised a smidge, scrounging around the kitchen to find something else to use for the extra filling, I grabbed my mini-muffin pan. Since I had two pie crusts... I used the second one to cut little circles and place into the tiny spaces.  I filled each cup with a small amount of the remaining filling, and baked them along with the regular sized pie. Time-wise, I adjusted the baking time to make sure not to burn either the shallow pie, or the little beauties, and somehow, blindly, I did it - YEA!

I’m a little excited that I was able to use the leftover fillings and come up with an interesting and fun alternative. I know I’m not inventing something new, there are plenty of mini’s out there, but this was my first time trying something like this, and I am thrilled that it was a success!

So, how did I do it? I’ll tell you...  I started out baking both the normal sized pie and the mini-pies together in a 425° oven for 15 minutes. After the allotted time, I pulled out the little pie tin and turned down the oven to 350°. After 30 minutes, I took out the larger pie and replaced with the smaller ones back into the oven for 20 minutes.  Once the little pies were baked, the hardest part was waiting ten minutes for them to cool down. I have to say even though it was a short time, in reality, it was brutal for us to have to hold off until we could pick them up. Once we did, they were PERFECT.

 

The little pies are the perfect size to pop in your mouth. Seriously, if you don’t want a whole slice of pie, mini pies are terrific - however, I will warn you... you may not be able to stop! My tin only makes twelve at a time, now I’m thinking I need to get a larger mini-muffin pan...  These would make excellent holiday gifts, hors’desserts for parties; my mind is swirling with all kinds of ideas.

The thing about Pumpkin pie... for me, it conjures up so many delicious memories of holidays with my family. The rich warming effect of the pie plays not only on my palate, but also on my mind, evoking happy times. It is just simply scrumptious.  I encourage you to try this at home! I’m including the original Libby’s recipe, which is dandy. 

Libby’s Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie Recipe:
Ingredients:
¾ C. Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
½ tsp. ground Ginger
¼ tsp. ground Cloves
1 15 oz. Can Libby’s Pumpkin filling
1 15 oz. Can Evaporated Milk
2 Eggs
1 Deep Dish Pie Crust

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 425°. Mix Sugar and spices together. Beat eggs and mix in sugar, spices, and pumpkin. Slowly mix in evaporated milk and pour into a deep dish pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes at the 425°, then turn down oven to 350° and continue baking pie for 40 to 50 minutes until knife inserted into the center and comes out clean.  Serve warm or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Until later...

May life be as delicious as your dishes!
SRQ Foodie

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