Tuesday, October 19, 2010

TWD: Caramel Pumpkin Pie

This was not a recipe that called out to me. I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie. Although I've lately come to enjoy pumpkin baked treats (whoopie pies, blondies, and quick bread), I'm not a pumpkin pie girl. I skipped last week due to totally forseen circumstances (helloooo cruise to the Bahamas), and I wasn't about the skip again. That meant pumpkin pie. Or did it....

I am going to fully cop to not being organized enough to make this recipe well. First off, I didn't have heavy cream.I did have evaporated milk, which I'vesubstituted before, so I was willing to try it. I didn't fully read the recipe before I started baking, so I was in a bit of a tizzy gathering and getting ingredients ready. I also didn't want to deal with pie crust. I know. It's not hard. I make it often enough not to be afraid of it. Mostly I was lazy. And, you know, the whole "pumpkin pie" thing. I was thrilled to see another baker post an idea for pumpkin custard in ramekins. I'm in!

But back to why I needed the heavy cream. We had to make caramel. Just melted sugar caramel. That scares the bejeezus out of me.It goes from mahogany to black likethat. Plus, Dorie tells us to use a non-stick skillet. Mine has a black bottom. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to judge the color when the background is black. So I rebelled and used a regular saucepan. Rebel. It actually got to the necessary color and everything! I stirred in the butter, milk, and rum, and stirred until smooth. I was nervous because mine was pretty liquidy. But I didn't see an instruction to cook until it thickened.

I finished out the recipe, combined all the ingredients,poured the mixture into the ramekins, and hoped for the best.

I decided that a little crunch would be good, so I crumbled up some ginger cookies and sprinkled them in the bottom of the ramekins.

Here is a finished custard. Not a very appealing photo for sure.

Here's the dark inside with a hint of the Cool Whip that we ate with it. Yes. Cool Whip.

Well, I have to say that I am not a big fan. Perhaps I cooked the sugar too long and the caramel not enough. There is a bitter edge that I don't like and the rum flavor is pretty pronounced. This could all be user error. I really like the concept, and once I got going, it wasn't hard. I haven't decided if this is a keeper or not. The substitution didn't seem to effect the texture, so that was good. Ah well. There's always next week.

Thanks Janell of Mortensen Family Memoirs for getting me to try something new!

15 comments:

Judy said...

I was really careful cooking my caramel, but there was definitely a bitter taste to it. My taste testers commented on that and the rum. I'll stay with my regular pumpkin pie recipe.

Cakelaw said...

It looks like a chocolate pot - yum! Dorie says that there will be a bitter edge to the caramel, so I don't think this was a problem. My caramel was also pretty liquidy, so again, I don't think this was an issue.

megan said...

Cruise to the Bahamas? Oh yeah!!!

Pamela said...

See, I was of tasting the rum in this, so I used only 1/2 tbsp and the rest was water. Maybe the sugar burned a little? At least you tried. Hope you hade fun on that cruise!

Peggy said...

what is important is you got to cruise. Who cares about this pie, right? hee hee. I am glad to know your caramel was runny like mine. It was unclear about how long to cook it I thought. That Dorie. Doesn't she realize I need baby steps? :)

Cindy said...

I made Dorie's crust for the first time so I really didn't care what the filling tasted like! I also didn't love the near burnt background flavor. I'm anxious to try a different pumpkin pie recipe with Dories wonderful crust!

Tia said...

bitter shmitter. cruise- YAY!!!

Beth said...

Sorry it didn't turn out. I thought it sounded intriguing, although I've never made caramel. I'm a big pumpkin pie fan, so I still might try it out.

Rachel said...

good try! I bet the cruise was awesome!!

The Mortensens said...

I found myself asking, "What was I thinking?! Pie crust and caramel?!?" These are two tricky things for me and it is probably why I had to make it twice.

I didn't like the over-powering taste of the dark caramel so I made it lighter the second time. It was SOOO much better! I also used cider, so I don't really know what effect rum would have on the pie.

Anyway, thanks for baking along with me. If you try it again, I hope you like it.

Hindy said...

Ah, well. They're definitely not all winners. I'm sure you'll do something gorgeous for your Thanksgiving dinner.

steph- whisk/spoon said...

sorry this one wan't to your tastes...looks good to me tho! i never know how people make caramel in a nonstick pan. you're totally right--you can't judge the color! i always just use a regular pan, too

spike. said...

awe, sorry you didn't like it

Kayte said...

Even though you did not care for it, I like the ideas you came up with for coating the bottom and serving it like a custard...it looks very nice that way. Next week is apple pie!!

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

We found it a bit bitter as well. :( Bummer! The minis are cute though!