Making my own caramel from scratch used to be a completely rediculous idea. Until I ‘met’ Dorie. Now the thought of buying caramel seems rather rediculous. And Dorie’s recipe gives a wonderfully brown rich caramel.

‘Course I usually end up with a blob of hardened browned sugar when I add the cream. But it melts down. {Tip: I think using warmed cream would decrease the chance of this hardening.}

So why did I need to make caramel? For this new twist on an old favorite -

    Caramel Pumpkin Pie

and it is wonderful. While the regular pumpkin custard has dark rum and the heavenly caramel mixed in it is not really tastable (is that a word?) in the pie. What it does do is enhance the flavor of the pumpkin. YUM!!!

I made the full recipe and did it exactly (yes, EXACTLY!!) and it gave me three 4 1/2 inch and 1 six inch pie. Three for the freezer and one for tonight (with whipped cream).


Dorie suggested using an almond streusel on the pie after 10 minutes of baking. I used some leftover streusel that didn’t have nuts. It made a beautiful topping. I haven’t tasted it yet, but it’s in the freezer waiting for us. And it looks delicious.

This was another perfect fall delight. It will probably definitely show up again at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Thanks to Janelle of Mortensen Family Memoirs for this week’s TWD pick. I’ve been reading Janelle’s blog for awhile. They were in Germany for a while and I enjoyed her adventures. And her food. She will have the recipe on her blog. OR you COULD buy Dorie’s Baking From My Home to Yours.

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