New Year's Pie Project #1: Caramel Pumpkin Pie

Here at kitchenananda we strive to answer some of the toughest philosophical questions that humanity can raise.  Already, we have tackled:

Q: "Why are we here?" A: To feed each other.

Q: "What is consciousness?"  A: Who cares? It's delicious!

This post germinated before Christmas, while trying to answer this question:

Q: "What do you get for the Man Who Has Everything?"

A: Pie.   (Duh!)



The great challenge and joy in cooking for others comes from the evanescent nature of the medium: what is made gets consumed, and must be re-made to be enjoyed again. All our works in life are transitory, and we ourselves are the "coming-together-breaking-apart" of different factors and energies.  Pratityasamutpada is the Buddhist name for this concept.  That word itself has been ringing in my brain from a semester course called Buddhist Thought and Values I took more than 20 years ago as a Washington University undergrad.  After graduating, I chose my new name of Trouvere (French for "Finder") as a recognition of the fact that I myself, the Author of this piece, depend completely on "finding" the words and making something of them.  We exist in a fathomless web of previous and future possibilities, choosing our ways along the invisible threads. . . searching for. . .

Pie!

Which brings me to my father.  He's a brilliant thinker and scientist who has worked for his long career on projects designed to both enhance the world's knowledge and make people's lives better. He currently thinks up and engineers software to help 3-D images from medical devices yield richer and more useful data.  As an Illinois farm-boy he attended a one-room schoolhouse, now he collaborates with other brilliant minds across the globe to solve puzzles related to radio-therapy and tomography.  He's been all over the world. His material needs are well-met. And he loves pie.

So, this year for Christmas, my wife and I cooked up this idea: a pie a week for the year. (One big enough for 2-3 servings, as my mom avoids sweets.) She found this smallish Emile Henry stoneware pie-plate at Williams-Sonoma.

Look here for a masterful description of how to make a good pie dough, based on the methods outlined in the Joy Of Cooking. I also use an all-butter crust, but spelt flour doesn't hold as much butter as wheat flour does, so I cut back a little for the sake of a dough that holds its shape and still delivers excellent flavor.

2.5 c spelt flour 

1/2 tsp salt

4 oz cold Butter, cut into small cubes

1/3 c ice water

 I rolled it into a log and divided it into 4 equal discs.  I froze 3 of them and rolled out the 4th. 

I trimmed it up and wrapped it, chilled it well, and made the custard.  For this pie I used some of the Caramel Squash Butter from an earlier post as a base. Who needs canned pumpkin when you have a few jars of Autumn's Bounty lying around!

1 cup Caramel Squash Butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3/4 c Cream (milk will work, too)
a pinch of salt

Beat the egg together lightly then add the caramel squash butter and whisk until smooth.
Gently whisk in the cream and salt. Pour into the chilled shell and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until the center stops sloshing and starts jiggling along with the custard at the edges. Let cool to room temp or chill before eating.

 In this case, I just took the custard and crust along with me to my parents' house and baked the pie there while visiting.  It traveled fine in its raw state, and made their house smell nice too.

That squash really glows, doesn't it?

My dad always has a cake or some other sweet on the counter at home from the local grocery.

I admit, I'm trying to one-up the competition.

Stay tuned for more highlights of the New Year Pie Project!

For yourself and those you love: Blessings and Joy in 2014.