It’s high time for pie time; pumpkin pie time. Miniature pumpkin pies to be exact. Yes, you read that right, mini-fucking-pies.
Let’s be honest for a moment, shall we? I have an obsession with miniature things. The little girl in me squeals with delight any time I see something that has been shrunken to a perfect hand held size.
Recently while using StumbleUpon, items using muffin tins kept popping up. First there were cookie bowls made using an inverted muffin tin and then it happened: I saw a blog post that may have changed my life forever. There on MakeAndTakes blog was a post about Mini Pumpkin Pies. The filling is taken right from the back of a Libby’s Pumpkin Puree can. If ever there was something that I had to do for Nomtastic, this was it. This was my moment!
Keyword: Was.
It started out so simply. All I needed was a can of pumpkin puree and evaporated milk…
Then I committed at least 8 crimes against pie crust, and I’m sure if Martha Stewart had been nearby she would have slapped me silly. I used all butter when I should have mixed shortening and butter. Then I used egg yolk and milk instead of ice water. And then after all of this, I had the gall to play with the stuff like it was playdoh for the better part of an hour. I guess you aren’t supposed to heat the dough up with say, body heat. Then the recipe I found didn’t have nutmeg. WTF? Nutmeg covers every pumpkin spice latte because it just tastes like fall. So I added that.
Lucky for me I haven’t met a pumpkin pie I didn’t like, and this recipe was no exception.
Ingredients
Makes 12 mini pies
Crust for 2 – 9” pies. I’d recommend buying the premade crust just to make your life easier. I made my own by halfing the crust from the Autumn Bars and didn’t quite have enough.
One 15oz (425g) can of Pumpkin Puree
One 12oz (354ml) evaporated milk
¾ cup (147g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon (4g) salt
1 teaspoon (3g) cinnamon
½ teaspoon (between 0.5-0.75g*) ground ginger
¼ teaspoon (between 0.5*) ground cloves
A generous pinch of nutmeg
2 large eggs
*I’m not sure the weights on the ginger or cloves as my scale only does grams.
Method
Mix the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg in a small bowl. Beat eggs in a large bowl then add the pumpkin puree and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk.
Lay out your pie crust and find a round object about 4” (10cm) across. Cut out 12 circles and then work them into a greased muffin tin. Dock (poke holes) the bottom of the pie crust with a fork to prevent it from puffing up.
Bake in a 425°F (218°C) oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350°F (175°C) and bake for another 25-30 minutes. To check for to see if they’re done insert a knife in the center, if it comes out clean your pies are done. If you see the pies pulling away from the crust or small bubbles on the outside remove the pies ASAP. I overcooked mine a wee bit. They still taste though, just not as pretty. Note that you bake these for a much shorter time than an actual pie. Let cool on a wire rack for 2 hours until the center is set.
Serve with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
Image © Jenessa Hooper for BitchBuzz