When you love coffee as much as Shan and I do, it makes sense to incorporate it into as many things as possible. In this case, I saw an opportunity and took it! We were putting together ingredients for the filling (a task nearly resulting in another baking disaster…we’ll get to that later), when it dawned on me, we could steep the cream in coffee grounds! Excellent idea Bob *patting myself on the back for that one*. After steeping the cream, I strained it before leaving Shan and Olya to finish the rest, while I worked on some bread. With the filling finished, I hear Shan say “It seems a little thin…” as I walked over to inspect it. Running a spatula through the watery filling, it dawns on me…they grabbed the wrong bag of pumpkin puree… I turn around to open the fridge and sure enough, my perfectly strained bag of puree is sitting in the back of the fridge, untouched. Meanwhile, the nearly empty, lopsided bag of watery puree sits in front, glaring back at me. I pull it out, asking Olya “you used this bag, didn’t you?” knowing her answer would be yes.
Of course Olya couldn’t have known, as I never mentioned there were two separate bags. Staring forlornly at our bowl of pie filling, we were unsure of what to do next but not ready to give up. Crossing our fingers, we added some of the strained puree and one more egg. Filling the pie crusts, we tossed them in the oven and said a hail Mary. About 45 minutes later, two well set, beautiful pie babies came screaming out of the oven! Baking disaster #2 diverted, it was time to enjoy pie!
I almost didn’t need to have a cup of coffee with this pie (I still did, obviously). The coffee flavoured cream really came through, complementing the pumpkin pie spices, and satisfying my never-ending desire for MOOARCOFFEE!! – insert meme here. Now to find a way to make coffee pie…
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- PIE CRUST - makes 2-3 pie crusts
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- ½ lb shortening
- 300 grams all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 25 grams of egg (1/2 an egg)
- ½ tbsp vinegar
- ¼ cup cold water
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- PIE FILLING
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- 2-3 large eggs (2 for a firmer pie, 3 for a softer custard-like filling)
- 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 4 tbsp freshly ground coffee
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp salt
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- PIE CRUST
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- Mix together shortening, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a measuring cup, beat egg, then add vinegar, and cold water.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients, and mix until combined, but do not overwork the dough.
- Place in a container and refrigerate to store.
- Pie crust can also be frozen.
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- PUMPKIN PIE
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- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Roll out pie crust large enough to fit into a 9-inch pie pan.
- Place crust in pan, pinching excess pie to form the rim of the pie.
- Place parchment paper on pie crust and fill with pie weights (you can use dry beans or rice in a pinch).
- Par-bake pie crust for about 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 375F.
- In a large glass measuring cup, combine coffee and cream, allowing to steep 10 minutes. Strain before use.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs thoroughly.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing until combined.
- Add pie filling into pie crust.
- Bake at 375F for 35-45 minutes, until firm.
- Serve at room temperature or cold.
- Pie should be refrigerated after two hours.
Although it wasn’t our initial plan, I was really hoping this might taste like a Pumpkin Spice Latte, just cause that would sound awesome (think of the traffic that would get!). It didn’t really taste like a PSL, probably because it wasn’t nearly as sweet, which is definitely a good thing! Maybe one day we’ll try making a PSL Pie, crashing Pinterest in a Basic Bitch explosion of pumpkin spices, fall coloured leaves, caffeine, and ugg boots.
Until then,
Bob.
