Yeah, there’s the turkey or the ham, but the thing I look forward to every year is that belt-notch dropper, dinner topper dessert.
For me, it has to be some sort of pie, and as we head into tomorrow, I thought I’d share a few.
It also happens to be what I’m focusing on this year, since cooking dinner has been taken off my plate as we head out to family gatherings instead of hosting. I’ll make a few apple and a couple of from-scratch pumpkin pies. Dough and all. (Well, at least that’s what I’m assuming at 4 p.m. Wednesday. We’ll see if I’m frantically running out to Safeway at midnight tonight.)
I’ll tweak the recipe I used last year. I’ll likely try something out of the Pie and Pastry Bible, but heard a great Skillet Apple Pie recipe on NPR yestarday.
Food Life readers offered up some great recipes for the recipe contest, and I wanted to highlight a couple desserts that sounded like they’d be relatively quick (one is incredibly quick) and delicious.
The first one comes from Colleen Smidt and uses flour and whipping cream and sugar mix that adds an extra layer of richness to the apple pie.
Apple Cream Pie
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream (liquid)
4 tablespoon Flour (heaping)
3/4 Cup Sugar (organic tastes best)
Cinnamon to taste ( I like a lot but that is just me)
4 to 5 Golden Delicious Apples (do NOT substitute any other apple
variety)
1 Deep Dish Pie Shell (I use pre-made frozen)
Mix everything, except apples, together in a big mixing bowl and set aside for 1 hour. Ingredients will have a slight reaction and some rising will occur. This is ok.
Peel and core apples. Cut length wise into quarters. Slice length wise into thin slices between approximately 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Fill pie shell with apple slices to determine correct amount to be used. I make sure it is full and has a nice mound. Once the apple slices are mixed with the liquid a significant amount of settling will occur.
Mix apples and liquid together in the bowl. Pour into the pie shell. Sprinkle additional cinnamon sparingly on top for taste and color.
Bake 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Let pie cool and serve room temp or chilled. This is a great pie to make up the day before and travels really well once it is chilled.
The next recipe came from Shellie Cohagan, and would be a pretty good bet for something to whip up on Thursday since it’s quick and oven-free.
No Bake Punkin’ Cheesecake Pie
20 min prep
Serves 6 -8
8 inches prepared graham cracker crusts
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese , softened
2 1/2 cups whipped topping, divided
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups 100% pumpkin puree (not the pie mix)
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- In a medium-mixing bowl combine cream cheese, 1 cups of the whipped topping, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth.
- Spread evenly over crust.
- In a large mixing bowl combine: pudding, milk, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and 1 more cups of whipped topping.
- Stir until thoroughly combined.
- Spoon mixture over cream cheese layer.
- Top with remaining 1/2 cup of whip topping. Shellie puts it in a pastry bag and decorates the top with the whip cream.
- Chill at least 1 hour before serving.
