Recipe and Tutorial: Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

The hubster's side of the family hosted our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration this past weekend, which means tons of traditions!  As we do every year that we celebrate Thanksgiving with them (which admittedly is most of them), we swanned up to his hometown to enjoy a day of dawdling through a county fair with the whole family (yay for fuzzy-footed chickens and cows and equestrian events and greasy chip trucks!), then we all headed back to the house to enjoy our usual Thanksgiving Day foods of turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, with steamed carrots from their garden and boiled turnips.  I actually like turnips when my mother-in-law cooks them; they're not bitter but not too sweet either.

But this post isn't about turnips or turkey; it's about the dessert!  And that dessert was a homemade pumpkin pie, with a twist: some of my own apple butter that I had canned last year about this time. Pumpkin pie is all nice and good, don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to impugn a classic.  But sometimes (ok, most times), I like to tweak the classics and make something just a little bit different, to see if I can make something better-enough to create a *new* classic.

This drives my purist husband bonkers, letmetellyou....

So yeah, apple butter.  I wrote a post on a different blog last year on how to make apple butter, and thought it might be useful to resurrect it for my newer readers to see how it's done. Why reinvent the wheel? That apple butter recipe is the shiznit, and I had so much product that I'm still going through my stash a year later.  I think I'll have to start using it up or giving it away faster, though, since next weekend I'm probably going to end up with another BUSHEL of "apple rejects" from the apple farm like last year!

(Note: I receive -- and pay for -- all of the "imperfect" apples in several bushels from our Scouts Canada group, as we have our annual Apple Day next weekend, and nobody wants a bruised, dented, or slightly wormy apple! So, instead of throwing them away, I make lots of apple sauce and apple butter, and give it away to the Scouts, my friends and family, and in Christmas parcels).

Ok, enough blather; on to the Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie! This pie serves 8, or 10 if you're being stingy.

Basic Pie Pastry
Original recipe courtesy of Anna Olson's book, "Sugar"

Yield: This pastry recipe makes enough for one nice and thick deep dish bottom crust plus some scraps for decorations, or two relatively thin non-deep dish bottom crusts.  I did the two thin crusts, and they were perfectly sturdy to hold up the pies, but if you like a thick crust, I'd recommend doubling the recipe.

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp white granulated sugar (I would recommend 3 if you like a slightly sweeter crust)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3-4 tbsp milk, cold

Whisk together all dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or two butter knives (or your fingers like I do, but that takes a light, deft touch) until pastry is an even, crumbly texture.

Whisk together beaten egg and 3 tbsp of the milk; add to the dough and mix with a strong wooden spoon (DO NOT USE an electric mixer or you risk overworking the dough) until dough comes together, adding additional milk if needed.

Shape the dough into a disk; wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling.

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie Filling


2 cups pumpkin pulp puree from a sugar/pie pumpkin (*see below for how-to)
1/2 cup apple butter
1 1/2 cups whipping/heavy cream OR 1-12oz. tin evaporated milk
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
2 eggs, plus 1 extra yolk, beaten (reserve extra white for later)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger, ground
1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground
1/2 tsp lemon zest

Whisk all dry ingredients (including lemon zest) into a large bowl. Mix in the eggs, and then the pumpkin puree (cooled to room temp if you have made your own) and apple butter. Add the cream and whisk all together until well-combined.

Preheat oven to 425 degreesF.  Roll out pastry to just less than 1/4" thick on a lightly floured surface (a flat pastry board or a clean countertop). Ensure the pastry is rolled out to larger than your chosen pie plate. Gently roll up your pastry onto the rolling pin, brushing off excess flour from the bottom side as you go, and place over the pie plate. Ease the pastry in and around the sides and bottom, without stretching the dough (stretching causes dough to shrink and crack in the oven). If you have cracks, seal them by gently pinching together, or in extreme cases, using a little excess dough to seal the crack. There should be an overhang of at least an inch on all sides.

Take a small, sharp knife, and slice off the excess pastry around the outer edge of the pie plate, making sure to keep enough to make a nice, fluted edge. Put aside scraps.

Take reserved egg white, mix lightly with a fork, and lightly brush the inside of the pastry up to the cut edge; this will help to seal any cracks and prevent any filling from seeping. Decorate the edge of the pastry in any manner you like.

Fill pastry with your pie filling, up to the bottom edge of your fluting.

To ensure my pie bottom didn't burn, I doubled my pie plate and placed it on a flat cookie sheet. If you are using thicker, non-disposable plates, there is no need to double them up.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes at 425 degreesF; then reduce the temp to 350 degreesF. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean, or they only wiggle slightly in the centre when moved, as opposed to slosh!

Cool on a wire rack for about 2 hours; during this time, the filling will deflate some, which is normal.

Best served with whipped cream.

Sugar Pumpkin Puree
Don't know how to cook a sugar pumpkin to make your own puree?  It couldn't be simpler, my little darlings!  I don't mess around with roasting or baking or steaming on the stovetop; they all take too long, and I'm already making pies, here; let's not make this any more drawn out than it has to be, right? And I must admit, I love the bright orange-yellow of a steamed pumpkin flesh so much more than the dark rusty orange of a roasted pumpkin; it looks too much to me like that glop that comes out of cans, and if I'm going to the effort of making my own pumpkin puree, I want it to look and smell and taste completely different (and better)!

One 4 lb. sugar pumpkin usually yields about 2 cups of puree, which is enough for two generous deep-dish apple butter pumpkin pies, or two regular sized pumpkin pies (just increase the spices in the filling recipe if you are leaving out the apple butter).

Super simple recipe for pumpkin puree: wash and halve your pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and membranes and discard (or clean and make toasted pumpkin seeds; your call). Cut into quarters, place into a large glass bowl, add 1/4 cup of water, cover with plastic wrap with some holes poked through, and toss in your microwave for 3-4 rounds of five minutes on high.

After each 5 minute increment, pull them out, poke holes in them with a fork to test their doneness, move them around a bit, then cover and repeat until they're fork-tender.  Pull them out and let them sit on the counter, uncovered until they're cool enough to handle (10-15 minutes), then discard the water collected at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape off the flesh from the rind with a spoon.

Mash the pumpkin flesh until desired texture is achieved. A regular potato masher won't cut it; you'll need to use a food mill or chinois, or do as I did and use your blender (or a food processor) to achieve perfect silky smoothness.

There you go!  I hope your pies turn out as AWESOMELY as mine did; they were a huge hit, and I still have enough filling to make a third pie this week (yippee!)

Tutorial and Recipe: Cream Cheese Berry Tarts

These tiny little tartlets are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, if I do say so myself.  I sort of cobbled together a couple of different recipes, changed a few things up, and came up with these little guys for my wedding dessert table last month.

Even though the pastry is a little finicky (a light touch and not too much flour are the keys to this perfect pastry case), the cream cheese filling made up for it by being a snap to make!  In fact, I had tons left over since I had only made enough pastry for about 18 tiny tartlets; therefore, I'd recommend doubling the pastry recipe to use up all of the cream cheese filling; that way, you don't have to re-roll your scraps more than once (another major no-no that leads to tough and oily tart shells).

When the cream cheese filling (recipe below) is ready, spoon into a piping bag, or in a pinch you can use a large ziploc bag. Set up the baked and completely cooled tart shells to receive the filling, snip the end off your piping bag, and pipe the cream cheese filling up to the top. While it will need to be refrigerated, this filling recipe contains no eggs so it is stable enough to not need baking; it's essentially a "no-bake" cheesecake-type filling.

You can garnish these little guys with anything you like: fresh berries (like I did) or tiny slices of fruit, a small dollop of jelly (note, it may sink to the bottom; pipe slightly less filling in to accommodate the jam), coloured sanding sugar sprinkled over the top, or even pipe some melted chocolate or caramel in a zigzag pattern over the top and sprinkle crushed nuts over that. You can change up the lemon zest and juice to another citrus fruit, but this filling recipe does need a citrus "zing", so don't delete it altogether.

To keep the tart shells crisp, fill them the day you will be serving them.

Cream Cheese Filling
(Original recipe courtesy of Stephanie Jaworski of Joy of baking.com)

• 1-8.oz. pkg full fat plain cream cheese, room temp
• 1-14 oz. tin sweetened condensed milk
• Zest of one lemon
•  1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
•  1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. In food processor or tabletop mixer, beat cream cheese until creamy and smooth.  
2. Add all remaining ingredients and process until just smooth (do not over-mix or the filling will be too runny).
3. Transfer filling to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight (minimum 6 hours). Can be made up to a week in advance.

Sweet Tart Pastry 
(Original recipe courtesy of Cooksrecipes.com) 

Makes enough pastry for one 9" round tart or 8 individual tart shells or 16-18 mini tart shells

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Sift flour and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. 
2. Beat the butter with the paddle attachment of a tabletop mixer until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula.
3. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating just until incorporated. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl.
4. Add flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a ball. Don't overwork or pastry will be tough when baked. Dough will be sticky.
5. Flatten dough into disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until firm (at this point, you can wrap it very well and chill for up to 3 days).
6. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, turning dough frequently to prevent it from sticking and to keep its round shape. Do not turn dough over. The dough should be about an inch larger than your tart pan, and about 1/8" thick.
7. Carefully roll dough around rolling pin. Center over tart pan and unroll over the top. Never pull or stretch the dough as it will shrink away from pan during baking. Lightly press dough into bottom and sides of pan. Roll your rolling pin over top of pan to cut off excess dough. 
8. If making mini tarts, cut circles a little larger than the tart pan cavities (for accuracy, measure the depth of the pan's cavity, and add that number to the diameter of the cavity). Try to align your cuts carefully in order to not have to re-roll your scraps more than once (remember, each re-roll means tougher pastry).
9. Gently but quickly ease each pastry circle into the pan cavities without pulling, stretching, or tearing the dough; the heat from your hands is melting the butter the longer you touch the dough. Ensure the dough circle is firmly against the bottom and walls of each cavity, and neaten up the top edge.
10. Place in freezer for a minimum of 20 minutes to chill. The tart pan can be left in the freezer for up to a day if necessary.
11. If baking unfilled (as in for this recipe), "blind-bake" tart cases first; this is done by lining tart pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, then filling with pie weights or dried beans, making sure the weights fill to the top of the pan are and evenly distributed over the entire surface. 
12. Bake crust in a 400*F (205*C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes until crust is lightly browned; remove weights a few minutes prior to the perfect golden brown, and finish baking to achieve brownness along tart bottom. Remove weights and parchment, and cool crust on wire rack before filling. 

Can be made and frozen (unfilled) for up to a month.

Tutorial and Recipe: Butter Tarts

Image courtesy of Canadian Living Magazine

Butter tarts are an iconic Canadian dessert, as Canadian as Nanaimo bars, in fact (although we'll talk about those in another post).

There are tons of recipes for butter tarts out there; the simplest and easiest call for the baker to use pre-made tart shells found in the grocery store freezer section. The more complicated recipes call for making one's own pastry dough as well as the filling, and essentially require the baker to keep very aware of temperatures and timing; it's important to understand the components of pastry dough and the best way to roll and rest your pastry so it comes out flaky and buttery, not tough and oily.

Of course, since it was my wedding and I am proud of my baking, I opted for the latter method.

Because it's not like I had anything else to do. /sarcasm

I opted for the recipe below because of its stable, "jelly-like" filling, as opposed to the ooey-gooey filling that is my personal favourite, mainly because I worried that the gooey tarts might drip too much, and I didn't want anyone to get their lovely wedding frocks all dirty!  

I have included two gooey filling recipes at the bottom if you prefer those, like I do!

Butter Tarts  

Original recipe courtesy of Stephanie Jaworski at The Joy of Baking

Makes 12 - 4" tarts or 24 - 2" tarts

Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry):

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1" pieces
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup ice water

In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched.  If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your lightly flour dusted work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour (this is called "resting" the dough). You can make this in advance and keep it chilled for up to 3 days at this point.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to no ticker than 1/8" thick, and cut 12-4" rounds (or 24-2" rounds if making mini tarts). To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards). Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin/24-cup mini muffin tin. Do not stretch or overwork the dough to fit; ease the pieces in and work carefully and quickly to smooth the dough along the top edges. Do this quickly to avoid heating up and melting the butter in the dough.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up the dough. Next, make the filling.

Butter Tart Filling (firm):

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup half-and-half cream (10% butterfat)
• 1/2 cup raisins or 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (toasted and chopped) (optional)

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Stir in the cream. If using nuts and/or raisins, place a small amount (to taste) in the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked tart shells 3/4 full with the filling. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry has nicely browned and the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 1 minute; run metal spatula around tarts to loosen, then carefully slide spatula under tarts and transfer to rack to let cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Butter Tart Filling (gooey)

Original recipe courtesy of Canadian Living Magazine

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) corn syrup
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter, softened
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vinegar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) currants or raisins or chopped pecans or shredded coconut

Whisk together brown sugar, corn syrup, egg, butter, vanilla, vinegar and salt until blended; set aside.  Divide currants etc. among shells. Spoon in filling until three-quarters full.
Bake in bottom third of 450 degree F oven until filling is puffed and bubbly and pastry is golden, about 12 minutes. Let stand on rack for 1 minute. Run metal spatula around tarts to loosen; carefully slide spatula under tarts and transfer to rack to let cool.

Maple Butter Tart Filling (gooey)

Original recipe courtesy of Canadian Living Magazine

•  3/4 cup (175 mL) packed brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) maple syrup, (No. 1 medium grade) 
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, melted 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) cider vinegar 
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt 
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped walnut halves, dried currants, golden raisins (or a mixture)

Whisk together brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, eggs, vinegar and salt. Divide walnuts, currants and raisins among pastry shells. Spoon scant 1/4 cup filling into each shell.
Bake in 350?F (180?C) oven until filling is set and pastry is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Run thin knife around edges to release tarts. Let cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Transfer to rack; let cool completely.