Dorie Greenspan's Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie

No post in a while because I've been busy, but luckily for Thanksgiving I had time to bake more! First thing I made was my first pumpkin pie, which I was really nervous about...it turned out okay but I did way too many substitutions and I think they made it lose a bit of flavor. I used pumpkin pie spice instead of most of the spices, and then didn't have cloves so had to leave that out. And I didn't have rum (because I'm not 21) so I left that out, too. But I did make my own whipped cream, which people liked.

I made Dorie Greenspan's Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie (recipe found HERE, and originally made Dorie Greenspan's Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough (also on that same link), also available in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. But this pie crust kinda freaked me out--I didn't know I wasn't supposed to add ALL the ice water, just enough to make the dough pliable, so my dough ended up looking like this:

So, unsure about whether it would work out, I whipped together a different pie crust that turned out a bit small but was looked a little better. I'll post that recipe below. Anyway, when I prebaked Dorie's pie crust as she instructed, the edges turned a little dark...but I still poured the batter into this one because the pie crust worked out anyway. It turned out, Dorie's recipe had enough for both of my pie crusts to be filled!! I don't know if that was because she intended it for deeper pie dishes or what, but it worked out and I used both my pie crusts.

My friend hosted Thanksgiving to 20 people, and about one and a half to three fourths of my pies were eaten. I didn't think it was GREAT, but it was good.

Basic Flaky Pie Crust
From Allrecipes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water


Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour. Toss mixture with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.

Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

Roll out dough, and put in a pie plate. Fill with desired filling and bake.

(Above) The first pie crust
(Above) Second pie, unbaked