Thanksgiving is all about the food, and despite how much we eat for our main course, we always leave a little room for dessert. After all, that’s why sweat pants were invented.

My dinner would not be complete without a slice of warm, sweet pumpkin pie topped with fresh whipped cream. Mmmmm, but not everyone cares for this spicy squash pie. So today, I have compiled after dinner treats that will appeal to everyone in the crowd.

Pumpkin pie for the traditionalists, Kahlua Pecan pie for the chocoholics, and Apple Rhubarb Crisp for those who like their desserts a little tart. One thing they all have in common, they should be served with either fresh whip cream, or vanilla ice cream. Can thinking about these make you fat?

If you’re heading out to spend Thanksgiving weekend at the cabin, you can make these recipes ahead of time and warm them just before serving.

One additional note, the Pumpkin and Kahlua Pecan Pie recipes both won the Perfect Pie award, at Warkworth’s Perfect Pie Contest, and are from the Simply Pies, Savoury and Sweet, cookbook.

Making the actual pie crust can be overwhelming, but How to Make Pie Pastry, a previous blog entry will walk you through it.

Here’s to a Happy Thanksgiving and some good eating.

Cheers,

Julie

Pumpkin Pie (Ora Campbell)

1 unbaked pie shell, 9 in.

Filling:

1 1/2 cup cooked pumpkin (canned)

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup cereal cream

Preheat oven to 375F

Combine pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, eggs, salt and cream. Add filling to prepared pie shell.

Bake for 20 minutes then reduce heat to 350F. and bake until filling is set, about 30 minutes.

Kahlua Pecan Pie (Norma McCleary’s)

1 unbaked pie shell, 9 in.

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1/2 cup kahlua

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1 cup pecans, chopped or whole

1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

pecan halves, garnish

Filling:

Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla and flour. Mix well.

Beat eggs, one at a time. Stir in Kahlua, corn syrup, evaporated milk and 1 cup pecans. Mix well and pour into uncooked pie shell.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400F. Reduce heat to 325F and bake until firm (about 40 minutes). Chill.

Serve with whipped cream and pecan halves. Serves 8 - 10 people, but this recipe is very rich, a little goes a long way.

Apple Rhubarb Crisp

Topping

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup old-fashion oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) salted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Filling
4 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about
4 cups) you can sub for other apples i.e. Granny Smiths
3 large stalks of rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For topping
Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Rub in butter until mixture begins to clump together. Mix in nuts. (Can be made 1 day in ahead. Chill.)

For filling
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine apples, rhubarb, sugar, flour and vanilla extract in large bowl and toss to coat. Transfer apple mixture to 8×8x2-inch glass baking dish.

Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit. Bake until fruit is tender when pierced with knife and topping is crisp, cover with foil part way through baking to prevent topping from browning too quickly, about 45 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Entertaining, Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.