Happy Thanksgiving: Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite holidays as I loved the family gathering and also the food. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and of course pumpkin pie. And while two of the previous items were not gluten free I would suffer all the pains just to have a taste of my mom's stuffing with gravy and pie for dessert. I have since forgone the stuffing as I have tried to make gluten free stuffings and they are just not the same, so I now unhappily decline the stuffing as it is just not worth it. But I knew this year that I could do a gluten free pumpkin pie as I have the perfect gluten free pie crust down pat. See my previous posting for the crust recipe and step by step instructions. 

                                               

All I needed was the perfect pumpkin pie filling, the one I remembered from childhood. Thankfully I have my grandmothers copy of the Women of Unifarm Cookbook (Alberta Farm Women) from 1972, which my mother also has. I remember making last years crustless pumpkin pie from this recipe and it tasted the same as mom's, well with one slight difference that will remain a secret between her and I. So I set out to make my first gluten free pumpkin pie today. Boy was it ever easy and the results are wonderful. I think it will be even better after a night in the fridge to completely set, if it makes it that far. 

                                               

Sometimes the older the recipe the less you have to change to make it wonderful. It was so simple. Just pumpkin, spices and the egg/milk custard for the filling. The only thing I changed was I omitted the flour from the original filling recipe as my mom had mentioned last year that she doesn't put it in. It did take considerably longer for the pie to bake so that the centre was set, 10-15 minutes more. And I rotated the pie a couple times for the crust to bake evenly. 

I loved the technique of starting at a higher temperature then lowering it. The crust was nice and crisp all the way to the bottom and not burnt around the edges. I will try this again.

                                               

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie (submitted to cookbook by Mrs. Jean Leskow)

Crust: 

recipe found on the posting The Perfect Gluten Free Pastry

Filling:

2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg (or 1/3 freshly ground whole nutmeg)

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

3/4 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

Line 9" pie plate with pastry. Make hugh standing rim, flute. Chill in freezer while preparing filling. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Melt butter, stir into pumpkin with spices. Beat eggs till light, stir in sugar and salt with milk. Add pumpkin mixture, beat until smooth. Pour into pie shell. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 30-40 minutes longer, or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean. 

Product Review: PC GF Yellow Loaf Cake Mix

This week I happened down the gluten free aisle at my local Loblaws and saw a variety of new PC Gluten Free products. They have new PC Gluten Free chocolate and yellow cake mixes, but it was the loaf cake that caught my eye. My grocery shopping this week included treats that I could take to my choir's "tea/snack time" after practice. I had already planned on taking GF brownies as well as fruit, but when I saw the pound cake mix I had a thought that I could try something that I have been searching for.

                                                

I have been searching for a recipe for a gluten free lemon loaf. My mom used to make a wonderful lemon loaf when I was a child. It was not made very often, but when it was it was fluffy as well as tart and sweet at the same time. I have not had a good lemon loaf since going gluten free. Most have a weird texture to the cake. When I saw the loaf cake mix I wondered if I could turn it into a lemon loaf and what would it taste like. 

I made the mix according to the directions on the box, with a couple of changes. I changed the 1/2 cup of water into 1/4 cup of lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon) and 1/4 cup of water, and I mixed into the batter the zest from 2 lemons. I baked the cake according to the directions and it took a little longer than the directions stated. Watch your cake and keep testing it by pressing the cake in the center until the cake springs back. If your finger leaves an indent, it is not ready. You can also test by toothpick, but when I did this it came out undercooked in the center. Once out of the oven I poked the cake all over the top with a toothpick. I melted 1/4 cup of sugar in 1/4 cup of lemon juice (from the second already zested lemon) in the microwave until the sugar was completely dissolved and it was bubbling. While the cake was hot out of the oven I spooned a couple tablespoons of the syrup over the hot cake. Over the next hour I continued to spoon the syrup over the cake to build a sticky lemon crust on top while it cooled. Once completely cooled I sliced the cake.

                                                 

I took it to choir practice. It was completely devoured and the results were so positive. Everyone loved the cake and there was nothing for me to bring home. Not quite as dense as a pound cake, it was moist and fluffy. With the addition of the lemon it had a wonderful flavour. I can see this cake being topped with berries and cream for a wonderful short cake in the future. Since there were no leftovers I guess I have to get another box and make a second one for me since I only had one slice.

I highly recommend this product.