Pumpkin pie

[cjsmith]

I'm experimenting with sugar levels. The recipe I have used for decades is a bit oversweet, so as a first step, just now I made one pie with half the sugar my recipe calls for. I didn't add or subtract anything else. I wanted to see what this would do.

I will never add the "normal" amount of sugar again! WOOHOO!

The sugar decrease changes the texture a little, but not so much that I care. Next time around I also think I'll crank up the cinnamon, ginger, and clove, to give the tongue a little extra treat to play with in the absence of facepounding sweetness. But just as it is I find it scrumptious.

Now that I've seen how "half" comes out, I need to think on what to tweak to get a good no-sugar pie. That seems to me to be the most flexible option. People wanting a low sugar intake can have such a pie as is, people going for a high sugar intake can sprinkle powdered sugar on top or load up on the sweetened whipped cream, and those who are flexible can go either way as the mood strikes them.

I have enough supplies for one more this afternoon. I'm musing on what to tweak for the texture. I know if I do nothing, it won't congeal as much as it needs to. Hmmm...

Comments

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

hooray for successful experimentation!!!

would adding another egg help it set up?

i remember various attemps at a no-suger/alterna-sweetened apple pies for my diabetic grandma. one had me boiling apple cider down to a syrup, and another had me chopping golden raisins into ittybitty pieces. both were pretty gross to my then-teenage palate.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think I need to decide what I'm going for with the no-sugar pie. Half of me wants to have something I can offer to friends who don't want to eat sugar. The other half says gosh darn it, does EVERYTHING have to taste so damn SWEET all the time?

For that first bunch, boiling the sugars out of apples or raisins might or might not work; fructose has a different response than sucrose, and a person with a health concern about it would know more. But for the second, I'd skip all that fussing about and just have the darn pumpkin. Pumpkin tastes fine and shouldn't need to be disguised with sweetness. (But then, I drink cranberry juice -- the kind that's actually all cranberry, not apple or grape -- so I may be a little odd on this one.)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

does EVERYTHING have to taste so damn SWEET all the time?


no joke. i've made apple pies with about half the sugar called for - really, it depends on the apples used. i read somewhere about using 1/4 tsp in tart fruit pies to cut the acidity, thus reducing the need for sugar.

i second allanh's suggestion of stevia. i've used it in coffee at work, and a single packet will last me for 2-3 large cups of coffee. it's a different kind of sweet, too -- not the sickening sweet of sugar.

i do find that some recipes require sugar (or salt) to make the baking voodoo actually work. the chemisty behind baking is a fascinating thing.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Which apples makes a huge difference. Unfortunately, as I've never had the kind of patience it takes to peel and chop apples, choosing apples for pie is something I have almost never done and would likely screw up. :-)

A touch of salt added to something sweet will help us perceive it as significantly sweeter, too.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

the second mom figured out that my pie crusts were superior to hers, we took to tag-teaming the pies. she'd peel and chop, i'd do crusts and mix ingredients. the two of us could kill a half-bushel of apples in a day doing this.

i hate "salty" foods for the most part, but i am always amazed at how just a pinch of salt can improve the flavor of something significantly. my brother's mashed potatoes are so good because he's mastered that satlED-but-not-saltY thing.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Do you have seriously cold hands? That really helps with pie crusts! It's annoying in so many other ways, but hey, at least there's some compensation!

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

no, i don't really have cold hands. i do use icewater, though, and use my hands as little as possible directly on the dough. it's an intuitive thing for me, something i almost do entirely by feel, having learned from watching mom.