Favorite Thanksgiving Dessert
I am looking for a new recipe to add to our 'usual' desserts this year. We are very much creatures of habit for Thanksgiving and our favorites are pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie. Want to add something chocolate or maybe a cheesecake. Any ideas? Also would love to hear what some of you have as your regular desserts for this meal.
Thanks- Alexa
http://52perfectdays.com
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We always had meringue cookies to go with whatever pies showed up. Something sweet and light for those people too stuffed to eat other desserts (not me!).
I just made this apple cake yesterday and feel like sharing with everyone because it turned out really good: http://www.culinate.com/search/q,vt=t... I think it would be perfect for Thanksgiving dessert or a work party. It's made in a sheet pan and I'm thinking of trying it in a bundt pan just to make it prettier.
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I love warm apple crisp with a sizable scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Yummy!
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JoBear
Nov 19, 2008 04:45 PM
A new favorite is crimson pie (I know, not a cheesecake, and no chocolate) - made with blueberries and cranberries, a half a chopped up orange and some cornstarch and sugar - all in a sour cream crust. From one of the old Bon Appetit's in the basement. WOW!
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One of my favorites that is always a big hit is pear cranberry pie with gingersnap crumble topping. The sweetness of the gingersnaps work well with the tartness of the cranberries. I got the recipe off of Food and Wine. Even the little touches like lemon zest in the crust is a nice touch.
In the summer I'll use the same topping on a peach pie. Heaven!
if you already have a crust recipe you like, I would stick with that and just adapt it by adding lemon zest and cinnamons. The Food and Wine crust is delicious but for some reason the flour to fat ratios yield a crumbly /difficult to work with dough.
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phofiend
Nov 19, 2008 12:50 PM
II really tire of so many pies this time of year. This is a wonderful layer cake, and beautiful, to boot. Make sure to follow the link to the apricot puree recipe. It uses dried apricots and apricot nectar.
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JasmineG
Nov 19, 2008 12:46 PM
We always have pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie, and this year I think I'm going to do Dorie Greenspan's Apple Pie Cake, which sounds interesting. Last year I did the chocolate pecan pie that was in Gourmet, and it was great. I'm looking for something else chocolate to do this year, since some members of my family always insist on a chocolate dessert...maybe I'll just do some World Peace cookies?
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re: JasmineG
Chocolatechipkt
Nov 19, 2008 04:44 PM
Is the apple pie cake in Baking, From My Home to Yours?
World Peace cookies are *always* a good idea!
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Chocolatechipkt
Nov 19, 2008 07:38 AM
Pumpkin chiffon pie
Chocolate-cranberry-pecan pie
Cranberry-orange cheesecake
trad. apple pie
variations on apple pie ... lol.›1 Reply -
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re: rich in stl
Do you have a recipe for that? It's my dad's favorite boyhood treat and he used to eat it at Durgin Park when they'd drive up from Springfield. I've looked around for recipes, but never actually made it. But...seeing your reference to Durgin Park has made me determined to make this for him! Maybe not for Thanksgiving, but at some point early this winter for sure!
Thanks, in advance!
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sarah galvin
Nov 17, 2008 05:56 PM
I love to make pear or apple crostada with caramel sauce. It's so easy and yummy.
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We always have a variation of Chess Pie - Buttermilk Pie, sometimes with raspberries.
Another favorite is my sister-in-law 4-layer Carrot Walnut Cake with Cream CHeese Icing.
Finally a deep-dish pecan pie from Southern Living magazine reprinted on a food blog last year called Matt Bytes.
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Caroline1
Nov 11, 2008 01:27 PM
My favorite favorite favorite Thanksgiving dessert is my mother's home made mince pie. Made from scratch with true beef suet (packed around the kidneys in the live animal), dried fruits, walnuts, booze, and all sorts of magical things in it. There is nothing on any gourmet pie baker's shelf in America that comes close. But alas... My mother is no longer with us and one of my failures in life is never getting the recipe from her. But oh, the memories!
In the years we lived too far to get home for the holidays, she used to bake a batch of about 24 miniature mince pies in muffin tins and mail them to me. And my husband never knew about them because I would hide them in the freezer (I don't think he knew how to open a freezer door!) and ration them to myself with a wonderful cup of hot coffee throughout the year. Well, half the year anyway. Three months? They were soooooooooo good!
Take a lesson. Collect all of your favorite family recipes from living relatives NOW!
But I do have a near favorite that is remiscent of my mother's mince pie, but no conflict. I take a jar of Cross and Blackwell brand mince meat (or NoneSuch when I can't find Cross and Blackwell ) and jazz it up with a tad more cognac and rum, add a half cup or so of chopped walnuts, then use it for a hot topping on really excellent vanilla ice cream. I serve it in fancy glasses -- usually martini glasses -- and serve a couple of small meringue kisses alongside. There is nothing to be gained by adding whipped cream to it. For me its a minus. The hot mince and cold rich ice cream are so decadent and lovely all by themselves.
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re: Caroline1
MMRuth
Nov 11, 2008 01:31 PM
I do love mince meat and we make pies or tarts every Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. But, I have to confess, I use a combination of the jarred mince meat and the kind that needs to be reconstituted, with a good shot of Old Overholt Rye (since it has a family connection). So sorry you don't have your mother's recipe! We serve it with hard sauce.
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re: MMRuth
Caroline1
Nov 11, 2008 01:46 PM
Sounds vedy English! My mother and her paarents emigrtated to this country when she was seven, consequently many of the things I grew up thinking of as "American" aren't! Mom did mince pies for Thanksgiving, and my grandmother would do Christmas pudding for Christmas. That's when we had hard sauce! Keep out a bit of the mincemeat this hear and give it a secret try as a hot topping on really good vanilla ice cream.
And I should have added that when I want it as a truly "over the top" dessert, I do top it. Not with whipped cream, but with a little fold of 24K gold leaf, then drizzle a bit of warm brandy over it and set it afire. Flaming desserts always bring out the oohs and ahhs.
You know, if I had gotten Mom's recipe, I don't know that my memories would be as bright. I never seemed to have much luck with her recipes. She had one for a chocolate mayonnaise cake with walnuts baked int it that was to die for! I still have her original recipe. But when I bake it, it comes out B.F.Goodrich vulcanized! Some things seem not meant to be.
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re: Caroline1
Caitlin McGrath
Nov 17, 2008 05:46 PM
My mother always makes mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving (homemade mincemeat, now a lighter, vegetarian version) and fig pudding (flamed at the table - the flames are called "blue devils") with hard sauce and hot lemon sauce for Christmas.
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Although I always have pumpkin pie, I include some sweet but light desserts. Mile high strawberry pie, basically egg whites, sugar and frozen strawberries mixed then combined with whipped cream, in a crumb crust, is one. Also, I like cold lemon souffle. These are easily made the day before, the pie stays in the freezer and the lemon souffle in the fridge.
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The two "regular" desserts at Chez Julia's Thanksgivings are Sweet Potato Pie (sometimes with and sometimes without pecan garnish) and Coconut Pound Cake. Other desserts come and go.
Cranberry Walnut Tart is a goodie, so is Chocolate Pecan Pie.
I would never do a cheesecake for Thanksgiving. The dinner is altogether too heavy as it is, without adding cheesecake to the equation.
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re: ChefJune
chowser
Nov 11, 2008 11:03 AM
Do you have a sweet potato recipe you like? My bil asked for one, he's a traditionalist so I think he wants it plain, no pecans. There are so many online and I've found a couple on epicurious that look good but would love to find one that's tried and true, traditional.
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I feel like a broken record recommending these 2 pies again, but they are really good and easy.
Fudge-Pecan Pie
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fudge-Pecan-Pie-1442
Apple-Cranberry Crumb Pie
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viperlush
Nov 11, 2008 09:31 AM
Our favorites:
Pumpkin cheesecake
Sweet potatoe pie with a pecan pie top
Cranberry chess pie
Cranberry mascarpone tart w/ a chocolate crust›2 Replies-
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re: alexa52
viperlush
Nov 11, 2008 11:01 AM
From Wikipedia:
"Chess pie is a dessert characteristic of Southern U.S. cuisine. Recipes vary, but are generally similar in that they call for the preparation of a single crust and a filling composed of eggs, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. What sets chess pie apart from many other custard pies is the substitution of corn meal for flour. Some recipes also call for corn syrup, which tends to create a more gelatinous consistency. The pie is then baked. The resulting pie is very sweet and often consumed with coffee in order to offset this somewhat. Although preparation of a pecan pie is similar (with the obvious addition of pecans), pecan pie usually contains corn syrup. Chess pie is closely related to Vinegar Pie, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. Vinegar pie generally adds somewhere between a teaspoon and tablespoon of vinegar to the above ingredients to "cut the sweetness". Actually, it makes very little difference in the taste."This is similar to the recipe we use. The cranberries add a nice tartness to the pie : http://www.therecipesource.net/displa...
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