My First Pumpkin Pie with a Twist from Wilton

Last week I tackled my first real pie. Ever. I’ve made plenty of pies that didn’t include baking but since I’m sorry to say, pie isn’t a favorite of mine, I’ve pretty much left the homemade pies to my mom.  I do love a good pumpkin pie though and while I took the easy route with pre-made pie crust and Libby’s canned pumpkin (my absolute favorite!) it certainly didn’t taste as though I cut any corners.

For this pie I was really going for presentation by using the Wilton Pumpkin Pie Pan and  leaves and acorns cookie cutter set. By having instructions for the crust, pumpkin pie filling and a recipe included with the pan itself, it was a bit tricky to figure out which instructions to follow. Of course they didn’t all match and some key steps like whether to pierce the crust, whether to pre-bake the crust, how long to bake and more were all different. Looking back now I would have ditched the idea that I needed to follow the recipe on the canned pumpkin and instead just follow the recipe with the Wilton pan to keep it simple.
Because the picture on the pie pan showed very little edging on the crust, I was a bit too over zealous in trimming the crust. (Not a mistake I would make again!) I did pierce and pre-bake the crust for 7 to 8 minutes as recommended by Wilton but I also would have pierced the sides to eliminate a bubble that formed there.

I used the leaves and acorn cutters to cut out fun shapes with the leftover crust. I lightly brushed a bit of butter over them and sprinkled some cinnamon and sugar before baking them. Be sure to keep a close eye on them because they can start to get overly brown in a short period of time. (I believe it only took about 7 or 8 minutes in 425 degree oven)

I love the sparkle these leaves give off and as soon as I took them out I knew they were going to add something special to any pie!

Because of my lack of edges, my pie couldn’t be filled quite to the top or it would have overflowed. However, it still looked pretty and tasted great! I did cover the edges halfway through baking, even though the pan directions didn’t say to do so. I’m very glad I did!

I topped the pie with a couple of leaves and a small acorn and was pretty proud of the result. And because I had a bit of extra pumpkin pie filling, I finally got a chance to use one of my individual Staub ceramic dishes! (Remember that accidental purchase from earlier this year?) This one worked so much better with more crust around the edges and my son Lucian loved sharing “a whole pie” with me!

This pumpkin shaped pan would work great for many other uses including rice cereal treats or perhaps a pumpkin shaped cake!

BUY IT:

The Wilton Pumpkin Pie Pan ($8.99) and the 9 piece Leaves and Acorn Nesting Metal Cutter Set ($6.29) are available for purchase from the Wilton website but they are currently unavailable. Be sure to check out your local craft store such as Michaels, AC Moore or Jo-Ann Fabrics to find them or check out the Wilton store locator.

Disclosure – As a Wilton Mom Ambassador, I received product for the purpose of this review however,  opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.