Dessert Evolution: Beyond Pumpkin Pie

Once the final mouthful of stuffing is consumed and the table is now strewn with empty wine bottles and dirty dishes, how will you entertain your Thanksgiving guests after dinner?  Perhaps all will join together in a communal collapse on the couch for a football game or a family classic film?  Or maybe the girls will begin strategically plotting coordinates for the next day’s Black Friday expedition, sending the guys to flee to a game of poker in the other room.  Whatever the evening’s destination may be, there are sure to be desserts in the equation.

Typically, Thanksgiving Day desserts are relegated to a couple of hours post-dinner, in the hopes that the gastronomic overindulgences and the tryptophan-induced daze will lift.  The excitement of a touchdown, or of a hoard of flying monkeys for that matter, will tend to whet appetites once again.

Thanksgiving desserts have spanned far beyond the ubiquitous pumpkin pie.  Even the humble pumpkin pie has now evolved to incorporate cheesecake batter, mousse, meringue toppings, streusel crumb toppings and, sometimes, not even a pie at all.  Pumpkin parfaits, pumpkin ice cream, dessert breads and pumpkin roulades have now joined the lineup that celebrates the autumnal gourd.

What were once simple apple pies now add a pop of color, thanks to the addition of seasonal cranberries within the shroud of pastry crust.  Apples also now nestle peacefully with pears under the cover of a crispy crumb blanket.  Today’s caramel craze has led to heavy drizzles of caramel over a topless apple pie.

If you’re seeking a unique twist for a Thanksgiving dessert, look no further than your family’s year around favorites.  The dessert police will be too occupied with gobbling up their own pumpkin doughnuts to haul you away in handcuffs because you opted out of the pumpkin pie tradition.  If your family consists of shameless chocoholics, run with it.  A chocolate torte can be made festive for Thanksgiving by spreading orange hued frosting between the layers as well as on top of the cake, followed by a finishing touch of fall colored candies or casting sugars.  In fact, one of the most ideal flavor pairings is that of dark chocolate and orange, so try incorporating some orange flavor as well as color into that frosting.  Candy making hobbyists can get creative by making some chocolate cornucopias – molds can be purchased in craft stores that sell chocolate making and baking supplies – and then filling them with homemade truffles.  Pecan pie is so much more decadent when chocolate is incorporated into the filling.  If your family is nuts about nuts, try making a chocolate pecan pie with a mix of nutty favorites, whether that list includes cashews, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts or all of the above to cover all bases.  Go with lightly salted nuts, as the flavor combination of sweet and salty is deliciously satisfying.

Cheesecake is another perpetual favorite.  While last Easter’s strawberry-covered cheesecake may seem out of place on an end-of-harvest feast, the topping can be switched up to highlight autumn’s cranberries instead of spring and summer varieties of berries.   Below is a recipe that I have come up with that I will be using this Thanksgiving to crown a Coeur a la Crème, a super easy French dessert that resembles a rich and creamy soft cheesecake.  In fact, the generosity of the holiday season is coming over me; I’ll share the whole dessert.  However, if you prefer to use a traditional cheesecake, this topping will work on that too, as well as over a pumpkin pie or vanilla ice cream.

Coeur a La Crème with Cranberry-Port-Hazelnut Topping

Ingredients:

1 ½ 8-ounce blocks cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

2 ½ cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Place the cream cheese and sugar in a mixer bowl.  Using the paddle attachment, beat on high speed until thoroughly combined.  Change from the paddle attachment to the whisk attachment.  Add the remaining ingredients and beat until the mixture is well blended and thickened.

Line a large, fine-meshed sieve with cheesecloth and hang the sieve over a large bowl, making sure that the bottom of the sieve is suspended above, not against, the bottom of the bowl.  Pour the cream cheese mixture into the sieve and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.  Fold the overhanging cheesecloth to rest gently over the top.  Place in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning, make the topping.

Ingredients:

½ tablespoon water

½ teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder

½ cup sugar

½ cup ruby Port

1 tablespoon Cointreau

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup fresh cranberries

½ cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts

Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin powder over it.  Set aside.  In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the sugar, Port, Cointreau, cinnamon and cloves.  Continue to stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Stir in the cranberries and reduce the heat.  Allow to simmer until at least half of the cranberries have popped.  Transfer a ladle full of the hot mixture to the bowl containing the gelatin.  Stir to combine.  Now transfer the contents of the bowl into the remaining cranberry mixture in the saucepan and stir until combined.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

Remove the sieve from the refrigerator.  There should be liquid accumulated in the bottom of the bowl.  Discard the liquid.  Peel back the cheesecloth that was folded over the top of the cream cheese mixture.  Place a serving plate upside down on top of the sieve.  Invert, turning out the mixture onto the plate.  Remove the sieve and gentle peel off the cheesecloth.  With an empty, clean ladle, gently press down on the center of the dessert, creating a well.  Ladle the cranberry topping into the well, allowing it to overflow and trickle down the sides.  Sprinkle with hazelnuts and serve.

• Traditionally, this dessert was so named because it is made in a porcelain dish with tiny holes in the bottom.  A coeur, meaning ‘heart,’ is the shape of this dish.  However, as most households may not possess such a dish, a large, fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth works just as well.

Whatever dessert you choose, traditional or nouveau, the sweet mouthfuls will comfort all with the perfect, happy ending to this family holiday.  Be sure to accompany dessert not only with coffee or tea, but consider also offering espresso, cordial liqueurs such as Frangelico for an autumn nutty flavor, Port, a warmed spice wine, or a sweet dessert wine such as moscato.

Food for Thought

If you need further inspirational reading for Thanksgiving menu planning, read all about potatoes, flavorful vegetable dishes such as braised fennel or Brussels sprouts, cranberries, pumpkins, desserts and even a comforting way to use up that leftover turkey! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Fruits and Nuts Are Coming to Dinner

The fruits and nuts are coming to dinner.  Thanksgiving dinner, this week.  Yes, at your house, to your table.  No, we're not talking about your in-laws' quirky relatives or your second cousin twice removed who is only allowed out of the basement for special occasions.  We are talking about dessert!  No matter how much we doth protest and groan 'Oh, I'm so stuffed, I just can't fit in another bite or I'll explode...' everyone wants a piece of the pie.


As I have illustrated in the last couple of blogs in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday repast, most courses of the annual autumnal feast have graduated from the basics to culinary presentations filled with creative new twists.  Dessert is no exception, as the timeless trio of Thanksgiving dessert traditions has evolved to incorporate further dimensions of texture, flavor and color.  Those desserts which have withstood the test of time are the apple pie, the pumpkin pie, and the pecan pie.


The apple pie, once a basic pie shell baked with a filling of apples, sugar, a little flour and some spices, has now benefitted from the additions of additional ingredients such as pears or cranberries.  A new twist of flavor can be imparted by using a touch of almond extract in the dough when preparing the pie crust.  A whole new look to strut down the runway of the dining table is the substitution of cinnamon streusel covering the apple pie in lieu of a top crust.  Other apple pies who go topless include the apple crostada; and my mother's apple pie in which, during the dessert's hot date with the oven, the apples caramelize on the edges for a nice presentation as they settle into a cinnamon-infused custard-like filling.  Two years ago I celebrated Thanksgiving with Brian's family, where one guest presented an apple pie which had been piled high with at least five different varieties of apples under the hood.  For those who may be pressed for time to prepare a pie in addition to an appetizer, a turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, biscuits, vegetables, cranberry sauce - oh my, perhaps now is the time to start calling on other family members in the hopes of an invitation elsewhere - an apple crisp may be the easier alternative you are looking for.  Crisps do not involve making dough for pie crusts, because they require no crust at all.  A crisp is simply a similar combination of ingredients that would be used for the filling of the pie, the apples cut into chunks rather than sliced.  The mixture is placed into a baking dish and topped with a crumb topping, a quick alternative to the traditional apple pie.


The pumpkin pie is still served on many a Thanksgiving table and still prepared in its traditional incarnation, though many have sought new ways to prepare that sweet dining finale using the amber gourd.  Recipes are now widely available for pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin mousse trifles and parfaits,  and pumpkin roulades with cream fillings.  Last Thanksgiving I prepared Ina Garten's recipe for a pumpkin-banana mousse tart; the additional flavor of the banana was a wonderful fusing of flavors.  If you aren't so eager to stray from tradition however, there are many new presentations for the original pumpkin pie.  Two of my favorites include the addition of a hazelnut streusel topping; and also the cover of a cloud of fluffy sweet meringue which had a brief encounter with the kitchen blow torch.  I recently spied a recipe in a cooking magazine for pumpkin pie with a brulee top.  Whichever variation you choose, the pumpkin dessert remains the steadfast requisite for an all-American Thanksgiving menu.


Thirdly, we have the dessert pride of the southern United States, the pecan pie.  Several friends have made requests recently for pecan pie recipes, and so here I am to deliver.  As with the aforementioned desserts, there are many variations on the theme of pecan pie as well, including the maple pecan pie, the caramel pecan pie, and my recipe which satiates the chocolate cravers of your family.  This is one I have made year after year at Brian's requests.  The use of both bittersweet and semi sweet chocolate, plus the addition of instant espresso powder to the filling, really brings out the rich chocolate flavor.  Pecan pie is typically served with big dollops of whipped cream.  A nice alternative would be a scoop of homemade or high quality store-bought vanilla ice cream.


Chocolate Pecan Pie
Ingredients:   
6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into dice and chilled again
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/6 cup chilled vegetable shortening
1/4 cup ice water


3 tablespoons butter
4 ounces coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces coarsely chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup either light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cup pecan halves


In the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade, mix the flour, salt and 1/2 tablespoon sugar.  Remove the butter and shortening from the refrigerator from place into the food processor bowl.  Pulse ingredients until the mixture resembles small pea-sized pebbles.  Remove the water from the refrigerator and, with the processor on, pour it through the feed tube into the bowl.  Pulse the processor until the entire mixture begins to form one ball.  Turn out onto a floured surface.  Quickly form into a neat ball, pat down into the shape of a thick disc and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for about a half hour.


Return the ball of dough to a very well-floured surface, and begin rolling with a floured pin into a ten-inch circle, turning the circle one quarter turn every few rolls to prevent it from sticking to the surface.  Butter the inside of a pie dish.  Place the dough into the dish, and crimp or flute the extra dough along the edge decoratively.  Place pie dish into the refrigerator.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt 2 ounces of the bittersweet chocolate, 2 ounces of the semi sweet chocolate and the 3 tablespoons of butter, stirring frequently, until all of the chocolate is melted.  Add the brown sugar, espresso powder, eggs, corn syrup and vanilla and stir to combine.  Stir in the remaining chopped chocolates and the nuts.  Pour batter into pie crust.  Bake for about 55 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before serving.


For those who seek for something different, there is a whole world of sweet confections to offer up at your holiday table.  I do recommend however that you exercise the one tradition of Thanksgiving and stick to the concept of incorporating the season's bounty, which includes apples, pears, cranberries, pumpkin and nuts.  For those whose consumption of nuts is a medical faux pas, there are plenty of seasonal embellishments to enhance your fall baking endeavors, including the use of cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, ground ginger, chopped crystalized ginger, maple syrup,  caramel, dried cranberries and raisins.  However you choose to write the happy ending to your holiday spread, enjoy.  To all of my family and friends - all of my readers - I wish you a happy, safe and delicious Thanksgiving holiday.