Springville, Utah
If I write a philosophy book someday, one of the chapters is going to be about how no matter how much you improvise, sometimes you have to break out the lard. I've been trying for 20 years to make pie crust. I won't recount all the disappointing attempts I've made, just let it be known I've tried with butter, iced water, shortening, pastry flour, ad nauseum. The results weren't bad, but they weren't great. And rolling out the pastry wasn't "simple as pie" on any attempt. Until I tried lard. I didn't want to try lard. Who, except the initiated, would voluntarily eat the fat surrounding the pig kidney? Now that I'm in the club, I'm not going back. Two perfect crusts on two attempts. And get this, you foodies - easy to roll, and no scorching. The dough handles completely differently than any crust I've ever made with butter, and tastes BETTER.
Regardless of your crust of choice, here's a simple way to improve your standard pumpkin pie recipe. Replace about half the milk or cream in the recipe with buttermilk. And add a dash or two of ground cardamom to your spice mix. The result is not so sweet, and the obligatory whipped cream will now be a contrast, rather than just more goo. If you are really adventurous, spoon some warmed dulce de leche on top instead of whipped cream. For the decadent, I can recommend saucing with a splash of Kahlua. Sadly, our pie is all gone.
