Big Sur Bakery Cookbook - Michelle Wojtowicz [71]
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INGREDIENTS
3 cups fresh cranberries
¾ cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar, plus extra if needed
1 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Makes about 3 cups
Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until all the berries are soft and the sauce has the consistency of jam, about 15 minutes. Check its sweetness; if the sauce is too tart, add a little more brown sugar. Serve warm or cold. It’ll keep for about a week in the fridge.
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Pumpkin Pie
Sure, it’s easy to go to the store and buy canned pumpkin—we’re certainly not above using it in a pinch, and it works perfectly in our pumpkin bread—but the best way to make a pumpkin pie is to roast a pumpkin yourself. Michelle likes sugar pie pumpkins, which are smaller than typical carving pumpkins and have a great consistency for baking. Since they contain more moisture than canned pumpkin, she adds a sweet potato to the recipe to make sure the filling’s not too watery.
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INGREDIENTS
FOR THE PIE DOUGH:
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
¾ cup cold lard
1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
2/3 cup ice water
1 egg, beaten
FOR THE ROASTED PUMPKIN:
1 sugar pie pumpkin, 2 to 3 pounds
2 cinnamon sticks
1 thumb-size piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into ¼-inch pieces
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (packed) light brown sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
1 medium sweet potato
Makes one 9-inch pumpkin pie, plus one extra piece of pie dough
Make the dough: place the flour, butter, lard, and salt in a bowl and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the freezer, and use a pastry cutter to break up the butter and lard into dime-size pieces. Make a well in the center and pour in the ice water and the egg. Mix with your hands until the dough comes together, but don’t worry about getting it too smooth; bits of butter should still be visible. Cut the dough in half and flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each one in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes or as long as 3 days.
While the dough is chilling, start cooking the pumpkin: adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Using a sharp knife, cut the pumpkin into eighths. Remove the seeds and membranes with a large spoon, and discard them. Place the pumpkin pieces in a large baking pan, and add the cinnamon sticks, ginger, and dots of butter. Sprinkle with the brown sugar, salt, and white pepper. Add 1 cup water and cover the pan with aluminum foil.
Put the baking pan in the oven. Wrap the sweet potato in aluminum foil and place it directly on the oven rack right next to the baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the pumpkin and sweet potato can be easily pierced with a paring knife. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.
When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scrape the flesh off the skin. Peel the sweet potato. Purée the pumpkin with the sweet potato in a food processor until smooth. Set aside to cool completely. (Leave the oven on.)
Reduce the oven temperature to 325ºF.
While the purée is cooling, roll one piece of the pie dough out on a lightly floured surface to form a round about 12 inches in diameter. (Reserve the other piece for another use.) Pick it up by rolling the dough onto the rolling pin, and lay it into a 9-inch pie pan. Gently press the dough over the bottom of the pan and up the sides, leaving a lip around the edge. Trim the excess dough just to the border of the pie pan, and crimp the edges (or seal the pie by pressing the edges with a fork).
FOR THE PIE SHELL AND FILLING:
Nonstick cooking spray
3 large whole eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
½ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon