New spin on pumpkin pie becomes Thanksgiving dessert tradition
We all have our holiday traditions that family and friends request every year. It gives a sense of calm and comfort to have a dish that you know and love to put on the Thanksgiving table.
I think it is also fun to start new traditions with updates on classic dishes. For me, one such modernization began when my daughter rejected my old standby: pumpkin praline pie. She simply refused to eat it, and this drove me to think about different ways to keep the traditional dessert flavors alive in a new guise. That's how I came up with this ice cream pie that has become as popular as my original pumpkin pie. Strapped for time one year, I served pumpkin caramel ice cream sundaes as a variation. All my guests loved it (see below for directions).
I've made the pie easy to serve by unmolding the pie shell before it is filled, allowing the slices to be cut easily and come right out of the pan. After a big holiday dinner, a slice of this pie makes for a refreshing finale. Pumpkin-caramel ice cream pie, or the sundae variation, is now an indispensable complement to our Thanksgiving dessert table.
An added plus is that this pie can be made weeks ahead and frozen. This frees up time for you to concentrate on the other dishes on your menu. Make sure to remove the pie from the freezer 30 minutes ahead and leave it in the refrigerator to soften slowly. You can find excellent pumpkin ice cream varieties available at your supermarket. If you don't have time to make the caramel sauce, markets like Trader Joe's offer a good prepared one.
If you've run out of time to make the pie, I have a great solution for you. After dinner, put out pumpkin ice cream, warm caramel sauce (you can reheat in the microwave), chopped pecans, crushed ginger snaps and whipped cream on the counter. Set small bowls, spoons and an ice cream scoop out, and let everyone make their own pumpkin caramel ice cream sundaes. Both kids and adults love doing this, as it gets them up from the table.
• Diane Rossen Worthington can be reached at www. seriouslysimple.com.
© 2015, DIANE ROSSEN WORTHINGTON