Pumpkin Pop Pie

Ok; let's get one thing straight. Vegan food, especially vegan cupcakes are not bad. In fact, vegan desserts might just be better!

I just had to say that after having watched Cupcake Wars on Tuesday, which was already making me mad because it was a repeat, for the third week in a row... guess summer must be over.

Anyway... to today's piece of indulgence.

I don't really have that much to say, except that this recipe isn't vegan (though it certainly could be made vegan without too much trouble). It's inspired by this month's Chairman's Challenge in Food Network Magazine, where the secret ingredient was chocolate chip cookies.

Of course, I could have gone the easy route and just entered a recipe that I already have in my book of original recipes, "Coconut Almond Fudge Puddle Cookies", but that just seemed lame; as did pairing the chips with something as common as raspberries.

So, with fall around the corner (and may I desperately ask why?), and a year of recipes floating around in my head from J&W, I decided to remake pumpkin pie; take out the water, add some chocolate silk and some surprise undertones, and make a winner. So, here you have it!

Crust

Note: You can use a store-bought pie shell, but if you truly love food, I encourage you to take the extra time and put the extra love into making a homemade crust; plus you can prepare the rest of the pie in-between.

9 oz. (2 cups) all purpose flour

3 oz. (½ cup, packed) brown sugar

½  tsp. salt

¼ tsp. ginger

6 oz. (1½ sticks) cold butter (cut into cubes then put into the freezer until ready)

2-4 tbsp. heavy cream, as needed (keep cold until ready to use)

1. Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible
2. In a large, shallow bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and ginger.
3. Sprinkle the chunks of butter evenly over the flour mixture, toss to coat in flour, then use a rubbing motion to flatten the butter pieces and push it into the flour with you hands. Work quickly to prevent the butter from getting too warm. If you have warm hands, you may need to break up the butter into smaller pieces first.
4. Once the butter is in large, even, thin flakes, add about 1 tbsp. of cream. Toss in the cream with your hands. Continue adding enough liquid until the dough starts to come together in crumbles.
5. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and, work together, push and gently knead the dough into a rough disk, Chill until cold.

Filling

7.5 oz. canned pumpkin (½ a can)

3.25 oz. (½ cup + 2 tbsp). chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling

5 oz. (½ cup + 2 tbsp.) heavy cream

3.25 oz. (½ cup + 1 tbsp, packed) brown sugar

1.25 oz. (2½ tbsp.) good-quality maple syrup

2 eggs, separated

½ tsp. salt

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ ground ginger

⅛ tsp. curry powder, optional

2 oz. (¼ cup) granulated sugar 

approximately ¼ cup toasted, chopped pecans, optional

approximately ¼ cup chocolate chips (or more, if not using nuts)

1. Place the pumpkin a shallow pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until reduced by half. The puree should sizzle often, but should not pop or boil. When properly reduced, there should be just under half a cup of puree.
2. Remove the pumpkin from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Cool to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, roll out the pie crust. With the heal of your hand, flatten and warm the surface of the pie dough, then press on the edges to warm slightly. Place the dough on parchment or plastic wrap to allow for easy maneuvering.
4. Working from the center out, use a rolling pin to lengthen the dough, rotating after each swipe of the pin. This should help to keep the dough circular, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect.
5. (If at any time, the dough becomes too warm to work with, put it back into the refrigerator.). Fix any cracks by filling them in with a small amount of dough from the edge. Continue rolling. until the dough is at least 2” larger than the 9” pie tin you will bake your pie in.
6. Fold the dough in half, then transfer (removing the plastic wrap) to the (engrossed) pie plate. Open up, making sure the dough goes all the way into the bottom, up the sides, and hangs over the pan. Fix any new cracks on the inside portion of the dough by again patching with dough from the edge.
7. If you have a second, same-size pie plate, place it, with some plastic wrap to prevent sticking, on top of the dough. Scrape the excess dough off with a knife or bench scraper, then remove the second pie plate and plastic. If no second pie plate is available, you can rough-cut off the excess.
8. Place the dough into the fridge until ready to use. If you are using store-bought pie crust, you can skip steps 3-7; just be sure that the crust is thawed but cold.
9. Preheat oven to 425℉.
10. To the cool pumpkin mixture, add the cream, brown sugar, maple syrup, egg yolks, salt, vanilla and spices. Whisk until smooth.
11. Place the egg whites in a clean bowl and whip with an electric mixer and a whip attachment. Whip on high speed until opaque, then begin streaming in the granulated sugar. Continue whipping until stiff peaks form (when the bowl is removed and inverted, the egg-white foam should not move).
12. Fold one-third of the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture. When just a few streaks remain, fold in the remaining egg whites.
13. Remove the chilled crust form the refrigerator and sprinkle with chopped nuts and chocolate chips. Pour the pumpkin filling into the curst and spread even.
14. If desired, you can crimp the crust or use a fork to create a design around the edge.
15. Bake at 425℉ for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325℉ and bake for 30-45 minutes more, or until the filling is set.
16. Cool completely, the serve sliced with sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

Now, it's back to the kitchen so I can return with another vegan recipe, before dorm life locks up my imagination!