What better way to celebrate holidays than making pies? This quintessential American dessert comes in many different forms and flavors, from savory meat pies to summery blackberry tarts. As someone who is not particularly fond of nor has ever baked a pie, I decided to review three popular flavors: apple, pecan and pumpkin to see if making them homemade might change my mind.
The first pie I made was an apple pie from a New York Times recipe. It suggested I make a laminated pie dough since it comes out very flaky and light. While waiting for it to come to room temperature, I peeled and sliced five apples. I then cooked the apples in butter and stirred in nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, flour, cornstarch and sugar till a thick paste was formed. I transferred it all to a baking tray to cool down and added apple cider vinegar, which ensured the pie wouldn’t be too sweet, giving it a hint of tartness.
The result was a beautifully flaky crust with soft but not mushy apples. The filling was well seasoned and the pie itself was soft yet did not fall apart. The only shortcoming was that five apples did not make enough filling, throwing off the crust to apple ratio. I would suggest using six large apples. However, this was a fantastic recipe, and I highly recommend it.
Next, I made a pecan pie, also from the New York Times. This recipe was simple. I just had to combine eggs, sugar, light and dark corn syrup, bourbon, butter and salt to create a syrupy paste which I then poured over the pecans in the pie shell and put it in the oven.
As I poured the liquid over the pecans, I had been concerned the pie would turn out way too sweet, as some store bought ones are. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The pie was just sweet enough. It wasn’t sticky and didn’t get glued to my teeth. Unfortunately, to me, it lacked flavor, and there were too many pecans in it.
Finally, I made a pumpkin pie, which I’ve always found unappetizing. The New York Times recipe insisted I make my purée by roasting butternut squash, but as I did not have the time nor the patience, so I used canned pumpkin. I mixed that with heavy cream, ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, dark brown sugar, brandy and salt. The recipe included a crust recipe, and I made it using a food processor, and then all that was left to do was pour it into the dish.
The pumpkin pie came out of the oven with a gingery sheen. I had high hopes. The texture reminded me of slightly dewy moss, which I found interesting and surprisingly enjoyed. Sadly, there was almost no flavor despite the abundance of ingredients. This was not the first time pumpkin pie had let me down. I will not make it again.
