Thanksgiving Desserts

The dessert menu for Thanksgiving included SK's silky pumpkin pie and a luscious looking ginger pear cake. Both were topped with homemade whipped cream.

As someone who spends more time baking than cooking, I definitely contemplated these two additions to the Thanksgiving table more than any of the other components. It's sort of a shame though - by the time dessert comes everyone is so full nothing tastes that great.

And, for a dinner party of seven people, it was sort of ridiculous to make two desserts. It proved even more ridiculous the recipe for pumpkin pie I followed yielded nearly two pies. So now, I have a pumpkin pie in the freezer. We'll see if it lasts. The reason for the two desserts? My family never has pumpkin pie and I'm still not really convinced I like it. That said, it's certainly a classic of the day and was voted as "non-optional" by at least two of my guests. Which brings me to another Thanksgiving lesson: don't take requests. Your guests will eat what you serve, and like it.

Anyway, here are the recipes and my comments.


Ginger Pear Upside Down Cake:
I got this recipe from Macrina Bakery after stumbling on it on the Seattlest website. I followed it pretty much to the letter. I even emailed the bakery because the baking time seemed to be ridiculously long for a cake in my view. It was a tiny bit long, but not by much. Overall, I really liked this cake, but it doesn't taste much like ginger. In fact the ginger flavor is barely noticeable. That said, it's still really tasty. If I make it again, I might try to add some candied ginger on top, incorporate ginger powder, or something like that.

If you attempt this recipe, here are some important tips. First, make sure you put it on a cookie sheet, and if you're smart line that sheet. The bottom of the spring form pan is filled with a sugary liquid that will ooze out a little. Second, make sure your pears are very ripe but not over ripe. Third, I think it tastes best warm. It was not warm on thanksgiving when I served it, but I have been eating it periodically over the past few days, and I've liked it microwaved for about 30 seconds and topped with whipped cream.

Silky Smooth Pumpkin Pie:
I got this recipe from SK, and tried to follow it to the the letter. I used this pie crust on her suggestion, without the shortening (though it appears she has since changed to a different pie crust). Since I don't think I've had pumpkin pie since I was 12, I'm not sure how it compares to other recipes. But one of my guests, who is not easily pleased, proclaimed "this is excellent pumpkin pie," so I guess that counts as a success. For me, I might add in some of the traditional pumpkin pie spices that were absent from Deb's version. However, I will say that the straining was definitely worth it. My biggest gripe with pumpkin pie has always been that was dense and grainy. This pie lives up to its silky smooth title.

Whipped Cream:
I usually think whipped cream is a waste of calories, but I have to admit that when it's homemade and fresh, I really like it. All I did was put it in the mixer with the wisk beater. I added sugar and about a teaspoon of vanilla and kept the mixer going until it was stiff.