My First Dessert Pie!

As a baking enthusiast, it is a little strange that I've avoided making pies after all these years. Last year I made my first pie---although it was savory. For Friendsgiving this year, the hosts requested pumpkin pie, so I decided to finally make my first dessert pie.  

Full disclosure: I don't prefer/love pumpkin pie. I'm still scarred from eating subpar store-bought pumpkin pie as a child. And given the choice between pumpkin pie and any other pie flavor, I'll pick the other pie. 

I didn't express the above sentiments to my friends when they requested pumpkin pie but I tried suggesting pecan, to which they replied with a no. But with this bake, I hoped to convert myself into a pumpkin pie enjoyer and the occasional pie baker. 

I turned to my favorite galette/pie dough from Smitten Kitchen: all butter, really flaky pie dough. And then decided that since Sally's Baking Addiction never fails to have only the best recipes, I chose to bake her version of pumpkin pie. 

The Recipes: Smitten Kitchen's All Butter Pie Dough and Sally's Baking Addiction's Great Pumpkin Pie 

The Results: I had enough dough and filling for TWO PIES so my second pie was really a second chance to fix the cracking and overly browned crust of my first one. My second pie still had a tiny crack (a result of overbaking) but the crust was a perfect golden brown. The pie tasted ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS so I've been converted into a pumpkin pie liker. The spices weren't too overpowering and I liked that it was cinnamon forward (rather than nutmeg/cloves/allspice forward). The dough was a little thin on the bottom and a little hard to cut through. I want to keep experimenting with doughs to yield better results. But this definitely was not a terrible experience given that I was pretty intimidated by this project. 

Lessons Learned: 

• will work on the forming the crust. in retrospect, i should have folded in the overhang and then crimped like in this video. 
• once you line the pie plate with the dough, return it back to the fridge for about 10-15 minutes to keep the dough cold. 
• bake the pie plate on a sheet pan to catch any drippings
• set a timer but also periodically check to see before it goes off if the pie has baked faster than expected (or maybe my oven is off...the thermometer does say it is accurate with the temperature).