Let's Talk Thanksgiving Desserts

[Farrar]

Whatcha making?

 

I'm making my dessert menu. I need recipes, people!

 

I usually make my apple cake, which is from a really old Cooking Light recipe and pretty simple and sort of everyday, but which is just divine so I can't not make it, I think:

http://www.myrecipes...on-apple-cake-0

 

And, then, of course, there must be pie. I was thinking about maybe doing a pumpkin pie cheesecake, but I've never done that before. And probably a pumpkin pie. I don't know... I'm torn. Clearly I put it off until the last minute, at least in shopping terms - I usually know what I need to buy at this point...

[school17777]

Fudge and I was asked to bring coconut cake. I might bring a pumpkin pie because dh's family makes their differently than I am used to, and we like mine better (they put the spices on top of the pie, I mix them in the pie).

[lexi]

I'm making chocolate pie and apple crisp. My recipes are gluten, egg, and dairy free. Sigh. No one in my house likes pumpkin so that's out. I would love cheesecake but it's not dairy free. Sigh again. Your plan sounds yummy.

[MrsMommy]

I am making seven pies...one for each member of our family. Everyone gets to pick their favorite, and I'll make it. On this year's menu are caramel apple, peanut butter cup, pecan, s'mores, butterscotch, pumpkin, and my personal favorite, spiced cranberry apple. It's a lot of work (although, I have to confess, I don't make the crusts from scratch), but it's worth it! Oh, and we also get to have leftover pie for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving...yum!

[medawyn]

Instead of pumpkin pie, I making Smitten Kitchen's pumpkin and sour cream baked pudding. Easy and amazingly delicious!

 

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/11/baked-pumpkin-and-sour-cream-puddings/

[cintinative]

Chocolate cream pie, apple pie, pecan pie and possibly cookies

The chocolate cream pie should be gluten-free. We use the Glutino oreos for the crust.  YUM.

[JennyD]

 

I came across a great-looking recipe for pumpkin crumble in the Food52 baking cookbook (here it is: http://food52.com/recipes/24797-pumpkin-pie-crumble).  I was all gung-ho to make this but DH really really wants apple crisp. 

[Amira]

I usually make a chocolate mint pie but ds who loves it won't be here for Thanksgiving so I think we might just have a pumpkin pie and a berry pie.  If I make something else, it'll probably a coconut cream pie if I can find a decent recipe.

[freesia]

I make pumpkin cheesecake! I love it! I also make pumpkin pie and mil makes Apple pie and sometimes squash pie. SIL brings an ice cream cake. We have way too much dessert--that's for sure.

[Desert Strawberry]

I'm doing a cherry vanilla parfait, topped with homemade gingerbread granola, and autumn cereal treats-treats made from cornflakes with candy corn Autumn mix mixed in.

There will be pie, but I'm not a fan.

[Farrar]

Maybe I should do apple cake, pumpkin cheesecake and an actual pecan pie. Except, I'm always messing up the pecan pie. Hm...

[bettyandbob]

Chocolate pecan pie

Coconut pumpkin pie

Apple pie

All gluten free

[matrips]

My kids make the menu and the pies. One is making apple, the other pecan, and the third pumpkin.

[Loowit]

I think I finally have figured out what I am doing.  Pumpkin pie, key lime pie, and caramel apple cheesecake  I will also be making a raisin pie that my DH's grandfather requested.  This is very likely his grandfather's last Thanksgiving so we want to make special for everyone.  I had never heard of a raisin pie, so I am hoping it turns out well.

[ErinE]

If I do not make pumpkin pie and apple pie, I am certain there would be mutiny. In our family, Thanksgiving is not a time for experimentation.

[LucyStoner]

I make pies. And pie. And more pies. All with a homemade all butter crust.

 

Blueberry pie

Apple pie

Peach pie

Chocolate pecan pie

Lemon pie

Chocolate cream pie

Pumpkin pie

 

I've already got the fruit pies assembled and frozen so I can fresh bake them Wednesday.

 

We call Thanksgiving pie day.

[happypamama]

I might have considered making a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, just for the variety, had one of my boys not asked for that for his birthday last month.

 

So I (and by I, I mean at least a couple of the kids and I) am making pies: one each of pumpkin, Apple, coconut cream, and pecan, with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream, plus cranberry white chocolate chip cookies. Why, yes, the way to the hearts of my little boys, including the forty-year-old one, is through desserts. It'll just be the seven of us, but I am planning to cook a ton of food and then not cook most of the weekend. If I'm making one batch of sweet potatoes, I might as well make two batches.

[texasmama]

I make pies. And pie. And more pies. All with a homemade all butter crust.

 

Blueberry pie

Apple pie

Peach pie

Chocolate pecan pie

Lemon pie

Chocolate cream pie

Pumpkin pie

 

I've already got the fruit pies assembled and frozen so I can fresh bake them Wednesday.

 

We call Thanksgiving pie day.

I remember the pies.  :D  Such fond memories of spending one Thanksgiving week making pies on the internet with you...

[texasmama]

Pumpkin and key lime pies and maybe something else???  Mine are gluten free.

 

I made a dairy free cheescake last year from Tofutti, but it did have eggs.  It was quite respectable.  My brother's family is dairy free so I did it for them.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Mrs. Smith is making me a couple of pies.  One is mixed berry and the other is apple. 

 

Oh and Marie Calendar is making me a pumpkin pie with a praline topping.

 

Three pies is a ridiculous number of pies for 5 people, but they were on sale so...

 

 

[Farrar]

Ooh... chocolate pecan pie. Katie is onto something there...

[marbel]

For Thanksgiving Day we are having traditional apple and pumpkin.   The recipe from the back of the pumpkin can - that's what I mean by traditional.

 

On Saturday we are having a party with desserts so I am making:  flan, chocolate bundt cake (one of those with pudding and sour cream and kahlua in it), a knockoff of Starbuck's cranberry bliss bars, pecan bars, and one more thing which may be a pound cake with lemon curd.  Probably some truffles if I can get my daughter to make some.

[Miss Marple]

The last few years we have moved from pumpkin pie to pumpkin log roll - basically a pumpkin cake with cream cheese filling. 

[LucyStoner]

Ooh... chocolate pecan pie. Katie is onto something there...

The only bad pie flavor I've tried is persimmon. Blech. Chocolate pecan is a favorite. My husband is usually the one who makes that particular filling. I make all of the crusts though so I usually end up with all the credit.

 

As I type this I am eating a piece of apple pie. You know, for quality control in advance of the main event.

[Farrar]

Dang it. Now I want some pie. Like, right not, not in almost a week!

[Rosie_0801]

I make pies. And pie. And more pies. All with a homemade all butter crust.

 

Even though I am never going to eat your pie, I do thank you for having this standard.

 

 

I bought a pie from the local market the other month. The disappointment of a margarine crust had me just about  :crying:

[LucyStoner]

Even though I am never going to eat your pie, I do thank you for having this standard.

 

 

I bought a pie from the local market the other month. The disappointment of a margarine crust had me just about :crying:

There outta be a law...

[Lb20inblue]

We must be the only family that doesn't like any other pie other than egg pie (quiche). I am baking a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and carrot cake from scratch. :)

[Tree Frog]

I think I finally have figured out what I am doing.  Pumpkin pie, key lime pie, and caramel apple cheesecake  I will also be making a raisin pie that my DH's grandfather requested.  This is very likely his grandfather's last Thanksgiving so we want to make special for everyone.  I had never heard of a raisin pie, so I am hoping it turns out well.

 

MY mil was talking the other day about eating raisin pies when she was growing up. I wonder if it's a generational thing. I'd never heard of them before and now I've heard about them twice in a week. Let us know how they turn out! 

 

We're having a cherry pie, a pumpkin pie, and a lemon something or other. The lemon is for me; we always have cherry and pumpkin, neither of which I'm terribly fond of. I haven't decided what I'd like, so if y'all have any ideas, I'm all ears. Might be leftover lemon cheesecake from dd's birthday.

[linguistmama]

Anyone have a good pumpkin cheesecake recipe? I thought my menu was complete until that was mentioned! I will look for a copy of The Joy of Cheesecake.

[Sneezyone]

Sweet potato pie (no whip and definitely no marshmallows) and pecan pie.  That is all.

[EmilyGF]

If I can get them from the store, we'll have my grandmother's persimmon pudding with hard sauce for adults and normal sauce for everyone else. It'll steam in the oven or crock pot and be served just barely warm. 

 

When I lived in CA, we'd get the persimmons from trees we'd walk to or from friends' backyards and then freeze them until Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

 

Aaah, food with special, happy memories.

 

Emily

[Liz CA]

Even though I am never going to eat your pie, I do thank you for having this standard.

 

 

I bought a pie from the local market the other month. The disappointment of a margarine crust had me just about  :crying:

 

Shocking. Abominable. I am not even kidding.

[Liz CA]

Since MIL is the pie queen, I like to bring non-fruit items and hit the heart of the chocolate lover:

 

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake  :laugh:

[MrsMommy]

Anyone have a good pumpkin cheesecake recipe? I thought my menu was complete until that was mentioned! I will look for a copy of The Joy of Cheesecake.

 

This is the pumpkin cheesecake recipe I use. It's really good, and it has a nice, light texture, which I love.

[fdrinca]

The only food requested for Thanksgiving is pie. I'm pretty sure we could skip every other part of the meal and my family would be pleased as punch.

 

We're doing a store bought apple pie and a chocolate pie. 

 

I've been making this shortbread-pecan crust for a few years. It's amazing!

 

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/shortbread-pecan-crust

[Stacia]

We're doing slow-cooker stewed cinnamon apples served over vanilla gelato.

 

No pie.

Edited November 23, 2015 by Stacia

[Sneezyone]

We must be the only family that doesn't like any other pie other than egg pie (quiche). I am baking a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and carrot cake from scratch. :)

 

Not alone. I make sweet potato for tradition's sake and pecan for my DH's raging sweet tooth. The rest of us would love yellow cake. :)

[Junie]

I vote for peanut butter fudge.

 

We had Thanksgiving yesterday and my brother and I both missed not having it.

 

Our desserts were:  pies and Rice Krispies treats.

 

We had store-bought pies, but since I can't eat them (wheat allergy), I can't weigh in on the butter/margarine discussion.

 

Last year, dh made some gf pecan pies for me.  Yum!

 

 

And, not exactly a dessert, but I did make maple sugar candy.  It's my mom's favorite.

[Laurie4b]

I make pies. And pie. And more pies. All with a homemade all butter crust.

 

Blueberry pie

Apple pie

Peach pie

Chocolate pecan pie

Lemon pie

Chocolate cream pie

Pumpkin pie

 

I've already got the fruit pies assembled and frozen so I can fresh bake them Wednesday.

 

We call Thanksgiving pie day.

 

Would you be willing to share your butter crust recipe? 

[zoobie]

Bourbon pumpkin pie with streusel

Pecan pie

Chocolate chip bourbon pecan pie

Apple cake (smitten kitchen recipe) with caramel sauce for my non-pie eating kiddo

Maybe cranberry cream cheese pound cake

[Debbi in Texas]

I plan to make carrot cake. Can't wait!! Mil will probably make cream cheese pies and an uncle will usually bring chocolate pecan pie. There will just be 7 people there.

[LucyStoner]

Would you be willing to share your butter crust recipe? 

 

I am willing but I typed the whole thing and the post went poof on my phone.  So, trying again.  If this goes poof, I am giving up and going to bed!

 

It's not the ingredients so much as the technique that is longer to write.  The basic recipe is:

 

for four crusts

 

DRY:

 

5 cups flour

4 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons salt

 

FAT: 

 

4 sticks unsalted butter

 

LIQUID:

 

~2/3 cup of cold water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

 

Incredibly flaky and wonderful when worked right but with too much water, not cold enough, made too fast etc, it can come out terrible.  

 

My tips:

 

mix dry ingredients in stainless bowl and chill overnight.  

 

cut each stick of butter into 16 squares (4 cuts on a long side and then each of those four pieces cut into 4 squares) and chill the butter once cut

 

cut the butter into the flout until mealy and there are still some chunks of butter.  

 

Measure the cold water out from ice water.

 

Start adding the liquid with the 2 tablespoons lemon juice and about half of the cold water.

 

the dough is ready to form into discs when there are no dry patches and the crumbles come together without much effort or any real pressure/packing.  It's won't all be cohesive though and if it is, there's too much water.  

 

The water content of flour and butter varies significantly so you don't add all of the water at once.  I have had batches that were ready with significantly less than 2/3 of a cup and some that needed a bit more than 2/3 of a cup.  So, if you have added half of the water and still see dry spots, add a bit more.  Like a teaspoon at a time.  I use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for this job, but I can also do it by hand.  

 

Once it's done, form into roughly equal size discs.  I make flattened discs instead of the balls that you usually see with shortening crusts. With the flattened discs you are building the layers that form the flaky goodness later.  Also, balls cause fussy to work with broken edges when rolling out with very cold butter. Wrap the discs and chill for at least a hour or so, or maybe even longer.  I usually chill overnight because I like to break up the work.  I may be a pie dough nerd but I am a lazy one.  

 

When rolling out (one disc at a time- leave the disk for the top crust (if any) in the fridge while working with the bottom one), a chilled surface (I have a stainless topped table or a marble slab to choose from), a pastry scraper and a heavy pin are helpful.  I roll and then lift with scraper, flip/rotate and roll again.  It won't look like a crust until the very end.  If too dry, you can run an ice cube over patches.  If too moist you can add the tiniest bit of flour.    

 

If at any part of the process, the dough doesn't feel cold, you can refrigerate the whole shebang and come back later.  

 

Once you have formed a double crust fruit pie in the pan, freeze for an hour or more to get the best results and prettiest edges.  

 

Hope this helps! 

Edited November 23, 2015 by LucyStoner

[PrincessMommy]

The pumpkin cheesecake recipe in The Joy of Cheesecake is sublime. The last few years my nine year old has made a spiced cranberry-apple pie that tastes like mulled cider in a pie crust.

 

recipe for the apple/cranberry pie please

[Laurie4b]

I am willing but I typed the whole thing and the post went poof on my phone.  So, trying again.  If this goes poof, I am giving up and going to bed!

 

It's not the ingredients so much as the technique that is longer to write.  The basic recipe is:

 

for four crusts

 

DRY:

 

5 cups flour

4 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons salt

 

FAT: 

 

4 sticks unsalted butter

 

LIQUID:

 

~2/3 cup of cold water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

 

Incredibly flaky and wonderful when worked right but with too much water, not cold enough, made too fast etc, it can come out terrible.  

 

My tips:

 

mix dry ingredients in stainless bowl and chill overnight.  

 

cut each stick of butter into 16 squares (4 cuts on a long side and then each of those four pieces cut into 4 squares) and chill the butter once cut

 

cut the butter into the flout until mealy and there are still some chunks of butter.  

 

Measure the cold water out from ice water.

 

Start adding the liquid with the 2 tablespoons lemon juice and about half of the cold water.

 

the dough is ready to form into discs when there are no dry patches and the crumbles come together without much effort or any real pressure/packing.  It's won't all be cohesive though and if it is, there's too much water.  

 

The water content of flour and butter varies significantly so you don't add all of the water at once.  I have had batches that were ready with significantly less than 2/3 of a cup and some that needed a bit more than 2/3 of a cup.  So, if you have added half of the water and still see dry spots, add a bit more.  Like a teaspoon at a time.  I use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for this job, but I can also do it by hand.  

 

Once it's done, form into roughly equal size discs.  I make flattened discs instead of the balls that you usually see with shortening crusts. With the flattened discs you are building the layers that form the flaky goodness later.  Also, balls cause fussy to work with broken edges when rolling out with very cold butter. Wrap the discs and chill for at least a hour or so, or maybe even longer.  I usually chill overnight because I like to break up the work.  I may be a pie dough nerd but I am a lazy one.  

 

When rolling out (one disc at a time- leave the disk for the top crust (if any) in the fridge while working with the bottom one), a chilled surface (I have a stainless topped table or a marble slab to choose from), a pastry scraper and a heavy pin are helpful.  I roll and then lift with scraper, flip/rotate and roll again.  It won't look like a crust until the very end.  If too dry, you can run an ice cube over patches.  If too moist you can add the tiniest bit of flour.    

 

If at any part of the process, the dough doesn't feel cold, you can refrigerate the whole shebang and come back later.  

 

Once you have formed a double crust fruit pie in the pan, freeze for an hour or more to get the best results and prettiest edges.  

 

Hope this helps! 

 

:) Thank you so much, Lucy---especially for typing all that twice---and on a phone! 

[regentrude]

Blackberry crumble.

 

Normally we have cheese cake with cranberry sauce swirl, but DD won't get home until late Wednesday night, so she won't be able to make it this year.

[Luckymama]

Our desserts have to be different this year due to new intolerances :(

 

So for dairy-intolerant (not just lactose-intolerant but not dairy-allergic) dd:

pumpkin custard pie made with almond milk, crust made with shortening

gingerbread from old BH&G recipe that doesn't contain any liquid other than molasses

 

For almond-allergic and apple-sensitive dd (and others)

a family favorite, pumpkin chiffon pie layered with freshly whipped cream (I actually make 2 so dsis can take some home)

 

We will also have

2 apple pies for my sister's kids and dh who do not like pumpkin

[VaKim]

Nothing to add, but found it hilarious that this thread is right after the one about the 30 day no sugar challenge this morning. :-)

[El...]

We're going to a friend's house and they are making pumpkin pie, so I'm making cranberry apple.  Mine is a lot like the link above, but I use less sugar and don't pre-cook the cranberries (just the apples).  They pop in the oven and bubble up, and it looks gorgeous and messy.  I serve it with vanilla ice cream because it is a little on the tart side. 

 

I learned somewhere to skip cutting in the butter and instead to grate frozen sticks of butter very fast on a box grater.  I hold the stick by the wrapper and put it back in the freezer if it starts to get soft.  Then I just fold the slivers of butter into the flour.  Super flaky!

[momacacia]

Raw Pecan Pie with whipped cream, ala Carol Alt's recipes (have to Google), except she'd skip the raw whipped cream (which is so, so wrong ;)).