It’s Christmas. Merry Christmas! I guess I’m feeling childish. I guess I’m expecting the simple joys of Christmas stockings and old St. Nick – and Christmas Goose and Christmas pie. The poems of Old Mother Goose too. This year my Christmas pie is Black Bottom Pumpkin Pie. Why not? “Little Jack Horner, Sat in the corner, Eating a Christmas pie.” I think I should have mine too. “Four and twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie.” Only the young among us can understand why that’s such a joy and worth such a giggle. Of course there’s those Three Little Kittens who lost their mittens. They found them again just so they could have some pie.
Sippity Sup is nursery rhyme too. In case you didn’t know. “Sippity sup, Bread and milk from a china cup.”
Here’s a Black Bottom Pumpkin Pie to wish you a Merry Christmas. It’s a pumpkin pie, so it’s warm and familiar. It’s a chocolate pie too, so it’s as special as the day. I have a nursery rhyme for you as well, because Christmas makes me feel like a child again. GREG
Three Little Kittens
The three little kittens, they lost their mittens,And they began to cry,“Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear,That we have lost our mittens.”“What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!Then you shall have no pie.”“Meow, meow, meow.”“Then you shall have no pie.”The three little kittens, they found their mittens,And they began to cry,“Oh, mother dear, see here, see here,For we have found our mittens.”“Put on your mittens, you silly kittens,And you shall have some pie.”“Purr, purr, purr,Oh, let us have some pie.”The three little kittens put on their mittens,And soon ate up the pie,“Oh, mother dear, we greatly fear,That we have soiled our mittens.”“What, soiled your mittens, you naughty kittens!”Then they began to sigh,“Meow, meow, meow,”Then they began to sigh.The three little kittens, they washed their mittens,And hung them out to dry,“Oh, mother dear, do you not hear,That we have washed our mittens?”“What, washed your mittens, then you’re good kittens,But I smell a rat close by.”“Meow, meow, meow,We smell a rat close by.”
GREG
Black Bottom Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 8 ounce semi-sweet chocolate (chopped)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground ginger
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin-pie filling)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
- raw pie pastry (enough to line one 9‑inch pie pan)
Directions
Make the chocolate ganache black bottom filling: Put chopped chocolate in a medium mixing bowl; set aside.
In a small saucepan bring cream and ginger to a light boil. Immediately remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes.
Once the flavors have infused bring cream and ginger to a light boil again, then strain cream through a fine mesh sieve into the bowl of chopped chocolate; discard ginger. Stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
Make the pumpkin filling: In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, and cloves. Using a wooden spoon beat in pumpkin until well incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each egg addition. Stir in evaporated milk and vanilla.
Assemble the pie: Place a cookie sheet in the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle, about ⅛‑inch thick. Carefully transfer the dough to a pie plate and gently press it up the sides. Drape any excess crust over the edge, then fold under and crimp decoratively.
Pour in chocolate ganache black bottom filling. Use a rubber spatula to spread the mixture evenly across the surface. Place the pie shell in the freezer for 10 to 20 minutes to firm up. Remove from freezer, fill remainder of pie shell with pumpkin mixture. Bake on preheated cookie sheet, about 50 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
Cool for at least 2 hours before serving.
Love, love, love this. It’s my go-to Thanksgiving dessert. I use dark chocolate chips in place of milk chocolate. Decadent!
Looks delicious! Hope you have a scrumptious 2016!
A little chocolate is always a bonus! And a good excuse to make a pumpkin pie more than once a year!!! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Gorgeous combination, G. I love pumpkin pie and EVERYthing’s better with chocolate.
Hope this holiday season is warm & cozy for you. xoxo
This looks like the perfect Christmas dessert!!
I had no idea that was from a nursery rhyme. I love nursery rhymes! And I love this pie! Merry Christmas Greg! I am going to put on my mittens! Trust me, we are needing them here in Denver!
I just had to click on that title. Black Bottom Pumpkin Pie sounds so playful, goes right with your nursery rhyme theme. What a treat at the bottom of the slice, would be fun to serve it without hint that it wasn’t your ordinary pumpkin pie.
I’m usually not much of a pumpkin pie lover but this one with the chocolate bottom takes it OTT! Will have to make it next year. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Your photos are mesmerizing Greg — this is a keeper!
What a lovely pie! It’s a good thing my little outdooor kitty has his mittens. Baby it’s cold outside! Buon Natale!
I always wondered where your blog name came from. And I loved rereading the Three Little Kittens rhyme. Boy, did that take me back! And black bottom pumpkin pie? That will take me forward… Merry Christmas, Greg and Ken!
Merriest Christmas Greg!! We never get too old for rhymes and Christmas songs. Loving that rhyme.
xoxo
Merry Christmas Greg! Enjoy the holiday.
Thanks for the Sippity Sup reference. I had no idea. My mom used to read me nursery rhymes. I can still hear her voice reading Three Little Kittens. Merry Christmas, man!