Pumpkin-Apple Pie

All of the to-do of Thanksgiving and Christmas for me boils down to one question: apple pie or pumpkin pie? Very often I do not have to or want to choose. But every year when my waistline increases as the temperature decreases, I'm thankful for those small changes that make me feel like less of a glutton.


So this year I combined my pumpkin and apple pies into one Franken-pie. A recipe from a Nestle cookbook I had guided the way:

Pumpkin Dutch Apple Pie

Apple Layer
1 9" deep-dish pie shell, unbaked
2 cups green apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp flour
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Pumpkin Layer
1.5 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
5 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp butter

For the apple layer, combine apples with sugar, flour, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; pour into pie shell.
For the pumpkin layer, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and pour over apple mixture.
For the crumb topping, combine flour, walnuts and sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until it looks like a coarse crumb.
Bake pie for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with crumb topping. Return to oven to finish baking for 20 more minutes, or until the pie does not jiggle in the middle when gently shaken. Cool completely.


When sliced, the pie looks like you took a pumpkin and an apple pie, sawed off the extra pie crust, and shoved them together. The taste, though, is wonderful. My family seemed skeptical at first about this creation as our only pie for Thanksgiving, but we all loved it! The cinnamon really unites these two while they both provide different textures. Plus the crumb topping really makes the pie feel whole and complete.


What do you do when you buy a two-pack of pie shells but only use one? What do you do when your first pie left you with some apple and pumpkin filling? The answer, of course, is to experiment! I tossed the remaining apples in the pumpkin filling, poured this into the pie crust, and, to get rid of the empty look of the pie, I folded the edges of the crust over to form a pseudo-crostata. It bakes in about the same amount of time as the pie (though I'm sure it was probably done a bit sooner), looks more rustic but tastes just as good. This is a good alternative for those who do not care for the full brunt of pumpkin pie's custardiness but still want to enjoy this interesting flavor combination. Plus it makes smaller slices, so you're gaining just as much enjoyment for less guilt. There's just no downside. It makes me wonder what other desserts need to be shoved together...perhaps banana-cherry jubiloster (jubilee-foster, that is)?

Thanksgiving - 11.27.08

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm sorry to say I did not do a lot of cooking while I was back home (then again, it was very restful). My only real contribution was a zucchini salad.


This is a salad we had in Italy. Use a carrot peeler to thinly slice some zucchini. Top it with broken up parmesan, toasted pine nuts and a healthy drizzle of truffle oil. Truffle oil is a little pricey, but, used sparingly, it is a delicious addition to the salad.


My mom surprised me with a birthday dessert on Thanksgiving. She would not tell me what kind of cake it was. To my surprise, while cutting the cake the knife started showing a blue-green tinge. After I cut a few slices, I figured it out: she had made a blue velvet cake. She took a red velvet cake recipe and substituted blue food coloring for red. She did it in honor of my new school colors. Even given the difference in color, the flavor of the cake was the same (delicious) with the classic cream cheese frosting to boot.

Thanksgivings - 11/22/2007

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! One result of having divorced parents is that I have to celebrate all of the holidays twice (good for presents, bad for the waistline). In previous years, I have enjoyed two full Thanksgiving dinners separated by about an hour, but this year was a little different. My mom was shooting for a non-traditional Thanksgiving brunch this year. Last night we put together a sweet potato bake, almond-banana bread, sausage bread, waldorf salad, and a Texas sheet cake. This morning, we assembled a mulled cider, sausage-stuffed mushrooms and pina colada pancakes (version 2 for those keeping count).


This time around, I put shredded coconut and coconut milk into the pancake batter. The "syrup" is made from pineapple preserves that were heated to make them more liquidy. For further topping, I put a dollop of whipped cream and some toasted coconut. Next time, I will thin out the pineapple preserves with some water, but these turned out delicious anyways. Worth noting is that I used a gluten-free pancake mix because my mom has a gluten allergy. Usually, these mixes come out rather gritty, but I could not tell the difference with these.

After brunch, I had a 3 hour reprieve until Thanksgiving dinner. At dinner, we had the usual delicious fare: turkey, gravy, potatoes, sweet potato pudding, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate bread pudding (made with croissants for extra buttery fatness), and my contribution: carrot cake.


My stepmom and I are big fans of carrot cake, so I thought this would be a nice treat. In the cake and between the layers are also chunks of pineapple for an added twist. On top are candied carrot ribbons made by simmering the carrot in a simple syrup. Special thanks to my mom for helping me asseble this monstocity. I hope everyone else had a wonderful and belt-busting holiday as I did.

Fakesgiving - 11/17/2007

My roommates and I have our own version of Thanksgiving every year that we call Fakesgiving. In years past, we have large numbers of friends participate in a potluck while we provide the location and some staple foods. This year was less than spectacular, but I am proud of what I made for the occasion. First of all, it took me three years to do it, but I made a great gravy using some of the turkey drippings. Previously, I tried adding flour to the drippings as they heated and a couple of other tricks, all resulting in a gravy that quickly turned to Jell-O. The big change this year is I actually took some time to think, "How do you make gravy?" The answer is you use a roux. I was definitely proud of my accomplishment, no matter if it seems small.


I attempted to make my first home-made apple pie with a lattice top. I got the pie dough recipe from my mom, though I do not think I did it quite right. The dough set up, but it was not easily workable and fell apart rather quickly. But it still held the apples well, so I cannot complain. I made the pie with granny smith apples instead of the romas the recipe recommended. This resulted in a fine balance between sweetness and tartness that I enjoyed thoroughly. Next time, I want to get the dough right and make the pie a little more goopy, if you know what I mean.


This is the dessert I am more proud of: chocolate hazelnut (Nutella) cheesecake bites. I was struck by the idea to make a Nutella cheesecake the other day, so I put this together. It has an oreo crust (my friend always bemoans the fact that I throw away the cream centers) and a cheesecake recipe with a large helping of Nutella mixed in. Surprisingly, the cheesecake tasted more like cream cheese than Nutella, so I went through with my idea to make a Nutella topping as well. I heated some of the chocolatey stuff with a little bit of milk to make it more pliable. After adding this on top, I thought the bites looked a bit plain. To remedy this, I went to Fresh Market (the best grocery store ever as long as you do not need non-food items) and picked up some hazelnuts (filberts). I lightly toasted the nuts, crushed them with a rolling pin and sprinkled them on top. These do taste as good as they look with a nice crunch from the hazelnuts. If I don't stop baking soon, I'm going to weigh 300 pounds by my 25th birthday.

Pumpkin Cakes - 11/10/2007

I wish I could claim that this was my idea, but I made it from a recipe magazine. All of the cooking magazines are all about holiday recipes and confections right now, and I've probably bought about 10 of them so far. Everyone I know should expect to gain some weight and/or become insulin resistant over the holidays.



The first photo is how I initially finished the cakes. I made pumpkin spice cakes in mini bundt molds and trimmed off the excess tops. Then, I put two of the cakes on top of each other to make the overall shape. After spreading on some orange cream cheese frosting, I stuck a honey wheat pretzel twist through the center for the stem. After finishing the initial recipe, I took a tip from Sandra Lee (crazy Aunt Sandy) and made some fondant leaves, as showin the second picture. This recipe could easily be adapted to be apples instead of pumpkins...maybe an idea for next fall.