6 New Thanksgiving Pies That Will Impress Everyone You Know | Vaughn Vreeland | NYT Cooking

“Come. Come. Are you smelling this? Why does it smell
like a Christmas tree? I don’t know if it’s like
the burner or what, like –” “[GASPS]: You
know what it is?” – [LAUGHS]: “It’s this burning. Oh, my God.” [FUNKY MUSIC] “Hello, everybody. Vaughn here. Happy Thanksgiving. I am truly so excited. Thanksgiving is
the best holiday, Obviously, because it
centers around food. I am here today to show you
the six pies that I’ve been Working on for you
all for Thanksgiving. Around March or
April this year, I was basically given the task
of thinking about pies that Hearken those flavors
of Thanksgiving But are also pies
for the new era. I think the best thing about
pie is that it is shareable. We’re going to make a hell
of a lot of pies today, So I figured there would
be nothing better than To celebrate in the spirit
of Thanksgiving than with A pie-stravaganza. I’ve invited some pals here
to the studio at the end Of the day today, so
we got to work quickly. But we’re going to all enjoy
pie, pop a little champers, And going to get some — [LAUGHS]: some
honest feedback. And without further ado,
(WHISPERS) the pies.” [FUNKY MUSIC]

“So I have a confession. I really never
used to make pie. I think it was
because pie always Was one of those things that
turned out differently for me Every single time. And I’m a little bit
of a perfectionist. But as I got to
know pie better, We became really good pals. And I think it
all started when I figured out a really
good recipe for pie dough. So it starts, obviously,
with your all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, which
is a good amount of salt, But this does make
two rounds of dough. The sugar, it doesn’t really
impart that much sweetness, But it really does
help with the browning. You kind of want
to have everything Ready at your disposal
before you get going. I’m going to fill this up
to the half cup and then put Enough ice to get
it to 2/3 cup. All right. The last thing is
apple cider vinegar. Pie dough, in it’s,
like, purest form, Is something that should
be tender and flaky. How you do that is through
a range of sizes of butter Because the smaller
pieces of butter Promote that tenderness, but
then the bigger pieces steam Up in the oven a little
bit from its moisture And create the flaky layers. So I’m going to start to
just coat all those pieces Of butter in the flour. I’m creating
these tiny flakes. And I’m getting
that nice variance. You can see I’ve got
small pieces there, And then I’ve got some of
these bigger flakes that will

Continue to break
down a little bit. So I’m going to make a little
bit of a well in the center. But I’m going to just start
by adding the half cup. You want the option
of adding more, But you can’t really take
it away once you add it. Work that water
and vinegar mixture Into the dough like
this with a fork. And then I’ll just take
this tablespoon and start To hydrate some of those
drier spots that I see. And now is when I can
go in with my hands. And it doesn’t stick
together when I clamp it, But you can see the
indentation of my hands. Turn it on to my work surface. Bring it together here. I kind of pat the dough
into a square-ish rectangle. We’re going to
divide this in half. This is basically going to
be our two rounds of dough. I’m going to go one step
further and divide it Into quarters. And it’s going to fall
apart at this point. That is totally O.K.
One on top of that And one on top of that. I have a little bit
of flour left over On the surface, which is good. Flatten it out just with
the heel of my hand. I’m going to divide
this one into quarters. So then I stack all four of
these on top of one another. And this is kind of like how
grandma used to make biscuits. You can already see those
layers starting to form.” [FUNKY MUSIC] “Flatten it out there. We were doing our Thanksgiving
video with Claire Saffitz Last year. She rolled it in the plastic.

That’s such a smart tip. So that’s bringing the dough
together without working it Super, super much. Corners in. I’m just going to try to make
it as much of a circle as I Possibly can, which will make
it really easy for me to roll Out later. So I’ve got my two rounds
of pie dough ready to go In the fridge for at
least a couple hours. Luckily, we have a swap
that we made yesterday. I’m going to show y’all
how to roll this out. You probably want it to
sit out for a few minutes Just to start to come
to room temperature. But the big thing is you
don’t want it to get warm. You can start it by
wrapping it a little bit. This starts the process
of flattening it out, And it’s going to also help
you prevent it from cracking. And I’m doing those quarter
turns to just try to maintain That shape. I’ve already beaten
it to high heavens, So I’m going to start in the
middle and work my way out, Applying even pressure down. A quarter turn. And if you get cracking
or whatever, it’s fine. You can work it back into the
general shape that you want. So you just keep it
moving, keep it moving. Basically, what you’re looking
for is a 12-inch round. You can use a ruler. You can kind of eyeball it. So this is why I
like the tapered one Because I can tell
that my edge is A little thick over there. So what I do is I always
just fold it in half. I can line it right
up with the middle.

Just very gently press
it into my corners. It also just kind of helps
it maintain its shape A little bit better. I definitely want to make sure
that I don’t have too much Overhang because I’m going
to crimp these edges, But I don’t want
it to be too thick. I’m just going to leave
1/2, 1/4 inch overhang here. I don’t have much of overhang,
so sometimes what I do is I’ll Just take a little bit of
dough and sneak it under. It’s not going to
make the prettiest, Most cohesive crust. It’s totally fine. Now, if at any point
you feel like your pie Dough is getting too
warm, you can just Stick it in the fridge. Take the overhang,
and fold it under. So you just fold it under,
fold it under, fold it under. Now I’m going to crimp. So basically, I take my
forefinger and my thumb, And then I take the
forefinger on the other one. And I just make
little indentations All the way around. And this is also
anchoring that crust To the rim of the pie plate. So as much as it is pretty,
it’s also for a reason. Now that this is nice and
crimped all the way around, This is what’s called
docking the dough. It’s creating little
like ventilation points In the bottom of this. I also to make small
little docking indentations Along the wall. I find that that
just kind of helps It maintain its shape, too. My dough is nice and docked.

She’s got to go in
the freezer, though. She’s a little too warm. All right. She’s gorgeous. She’s frozen. She’s ready to be parbaked. I like to bake all of
my pies on a sheet tray. If it’s an especially
drippy pie, You can line your sheet
tray with aluminum foil. I always do this so that
your butter doesn’t seep out, Make it smoky in your
oven, all that good stuff. So what we’re going to do now
is something called parbaking. You want it to be crisp
underneath and not soggy. I found that foil
for me helped It maintain its shape a
little bit better rather Than parchment. What I do is I crisscross
two layers of foil. I want to make sure
that the foil is Coming into solid contact
with my pie dough. I’m filling this
with dried beans. This is in order to help the
pie shell keep its shape. You can use grains of rice
that haven’t been cooked. I invested in these
things called ceramic pie Weights, which are just little
ceramic beads, really helpful. But the really
annoying thing is, When you order these
ceramic pie weights, There really aren’t enough of
them to fill a full pie shell. What I’m going to do is I’m
going to put this in a really Hot oven for about 20 minutes,
and then I’m going to take These pie weights
and the foil out. And then you continue to bake
it at a lower temperature, 350 in this case, for another
about 20 minutes so that it Starts to brown.” [UPBEAT MUSIC]

“And it feels nice. It’s like very matte but
also really golden brown. And it looks like
a toasted saltine. So I’m just going to let this
cool completely while I get Started on the
curd for the pie. If you like tart and
you like lemon meringue, This is absolutely
the pie for you. The first step is to
make the curd, whatever Citrus you can find. And now I need a total of
one cup of citrus juice. Mmm. I love oranges. A really lovely thing to
do during the holidays Is boil this, little water,
cinnamon stick, cloves. Perfumes your whole house. It’s gorgeous. My mom does it every year. This one’s going
to be a good one. [LAUGHS]: One for the chef. Ooh. So now I’m just going to
mix everything together. I am going to put my
sugar in here first. I just like to do this because
the abrasiveness of the sugar Kind of extracts some of
those really nice citrus oils. I’ve got five yolks in
here, two whole eggs. Now I’m going to go in with my
juice, a little bit of salt. Put it over like
a medium heat. I’m going to switch from
the whisk to a wooden spoon, And I’m going to use it as
an indicator for when this is Done. Definitely not looking
for this to boil, So you want to just take it
to that kind of like nappe. Nappe is when you’ve got
something that coats basically The back of the spoon and you
can run your finger through

It. And that’s exactly
what I’m looking for. I did this a couple times
without straining it Because I was like,
man, strain it, please. The bits of
overcooked egg really Could cause it to
curdle in the oven. And it will also create
for a more even bake. So you will be discarding
a lot of the zest. At this point, the zest,
especially because you rubbed In that sugar, it’s
kind of done its job. Pour this into my
prepared crust. Every part of me wants to go
over there and get a spatula. I don’t want a third tool
because people are going To be, you use so many tools. But then they’re also going to
say, you wasted so much curd. I’m going to get a spatula. I do not have a
dishwasher at home, But here we have a really
nice high-powered dishwasher. This one I do bake
on the bottom third. Now is actually a good time,
while it’s in the oven, To make the cranberry sauce. I was only able to find
frozen cranberries. Totally fine. I need a tablespoon of zest
and a half cup of juice. Set this over like a
medium-high-ish heat And bring the
cranberries to a boil. So after I brought
this to a boil, I did turn it down
to a medium low. This is like now what I
would call a rapid simmer. So once they start to burst,
I know that I’m about there. So this is good. It’s a very loose
jam consistency. I’m going to strain it while
it’s hot because I don’t want It to start to set up.

Make sure that there
are no solids in there. And it will look super
liquid right now. I’m going to let this
cool and then cover it. It comes down to temperature. I’m going to check on the pie. It’s been about 20 minutes. We’ll see where it’s at. Oh yeah, that looks good. If I very gently wrap it,
you see the center jiggles. That is what I’m looking for. So I’m going to let this
cool completely at room Temperature, and then I’m
going to refrigerate it So that it is completely
chilled all the way through Before we top it
with our meringue. It’s a very Glenda meringue
for the ‘Wicked’ fans among Us. So we’re making
a Swiss meringue. You’re combining your
eggs and your sugar, And you’re cooking those
very, very gently in a double Boiler. So a double boiler
is a bowl set Over a pot of simmering water. As I move and whisk the
eggs around in here, It’s going to be slowly
bringing the eggs up without Cooking them to a curdle. Basically, just be
constantly whisking this. But you do want to make sure
that you’re getting this sugar That’s built up on the
side down into here. I’m going to add my salt. All right. We’re at 151, 2, 3,
4, 5, yes. Take a little bit, and I
can feel that there’s no Grittiness between my fingers. Feeling really is kind of
your North Star when you’re

In the kitchen. Transfer this to the
bowl of my stand mixer. Whip this. We definitely want stiff
peaks for our meringue here. It’s basically like we’re
making marshmallow fluff. That is what
we’re looking for. That is a stiff peak. It almost looks like Frozone
in ‘The Incredibles’ when he Freezes someone and all the
ice crystals are like — [LAUGHS]: anyway. I’m going to add half
of my cranberry.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “So I’ve got my chilled
citrus curd pie here. You can see, in a
stand mixer, not Everything gets nice and
incorporated all the time. So I want to make sure
that I’m getting that. And then I’m going to go in
and basically streak this In there.” [FUNKY MUSIC] “Go with a gentle
folding motion. Pile it a little evenly. Add a little bit more to this. And I love seeing
those ruby streaks. So I’m just going to take
the back of a spoon and start To make some cute
little divots and peaks And indentations. Done. We’re almost done with this. I’m going to let this
chill, torch it, and eat it. I know we had brat summer, but
I’m feeling like we’re going To have a pretty bratty
Thanksgiving, too. I was listening to
Apple this morning. I know that — I know that this part,
this part, too-choo.”

“Oh wait.” “Oh wait. Oh, I forgot about that part.” – [LAUGHS]: “If I’m going to be
really honest with y’all, I never loved apple pie. I kind of tinkered with a
few different pie recipes, And then we kind of
landed on this one Because it brought in a
fruity element, this kind Of bright, ruby red element. There is a nice woven
lattice on the top. It’s sprinkled with a
little cardamom and sugar. The first thing
that we got to do Is peel and core apples,
which is honestly one Of the worst culinary tasks. I always feel like I need
to do one long strip. Here we go. Oh, no. And cut these into
1/4 inch slices. This apple is not rotten down
to the core, which is good. So this is kind of what
I’m looking for here. All right. And that’s kind of
all I have to say.” “Can I come in?” “Yes, please.” [FUNKY MUSIC] “I’ll peel. You cut?” “Yeah. Perfect. You can’t spell
community without unity.” “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team.’” “But there is an
‘I’ in ‘pie.’” “Done.

I’m going to add my sugar, and
I’m going to thicken this up With some cornstarch. Cornstarch is one of those
things that can get really Clumpy, so the
abrasiveness of the sugar Helps break up the
clumps of the cornstarch. I’m going to put that off to
the side really quickly while I get my lemons
prepped and my ginger. I feel like ginger and apples
and cardamom just all work Super, super well together. I don’t have any cinnamon
or any other spices in here. I just feel like it
doesn’t really need it. And I’m going to go in
with my pomegranate juice, Kosher salt. And then
in with my cardamom. I’m just going to give
this all a good mix. So I’m just going to start to
reduce this for a little bit, And I’m going to cook these
down for five to seven Minutes. Stir to coat all of my
apples in that nice kind Of like pomegranate
jelly that you just made. I’m just looking for them to
start to soften a little bit. The knife goes in with a
little bit of resistance, But you can tell that
it’s still really soft. I need to cool this completely
before I put it into my pie. What I can do to try to
speed that process along Is spread this out in this
thin layer as possible. Increasing the
surface area is going To help whatever you
have cool faster. I’m just going to let
this cool completely, And then I’m going
to assemble my pie. This is a double
crust pie, meaning That there is crust on the
bottom and crust on top. I’m going to fill it
and then do a lattice.” [FUNKY MUSIC] “O.K. So I’ve worked this
dough into my pie plate.

It is getting a
little warm right now, So I’m just going to stick it
in the fridge while I roll out My other dough. This one I really
want to roll out. I want to be able
to get eight strips. Yeah. Using a ruler is very
helpful for this. I’m just going to go through,
and I’m kind of like marking.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Maybe I’ll go like
an inch and a quarter. Let’s see. So I should get about
eight strips here. So my filling is cool. You do want it to
be pretty cold. Because there’s cardamom
in the actual pie filling, I’m also going to mix some of
the sanding sugar with some Cardamom. And when this bakes up,
it smells so lovely. Ah. I dropped stuff
literally all the time. I’m going to take one of the
strips and just lay it across. We are going to fold this
over and then crimp it. But you just don’t want a
really thick layer of crust, So I always just start by
taking a little bit off. And I’m going to space it
probably 1/4 inch apart So that I can get four strips. Trim that. If you stay ready, you
don’t have to get ready. Now what I’m going to do is
I’m going to take every other Strip and fold them up. So this is why we
wanted our dough To be cold but not too cold. We don’t want to rip it. I should be able to fit four.

Perfect. Take these two strips, and
you fold them back over. So you take these two
strips, fold them up. And I’ll do this one, these
two, and then this one. All righty. And then I can use this
kind of frankenpiece. So I’ve got my lattice here
with my nice thick strips. And I basically
want to go and trim. You don’t want too much dough
there because you really Aren’t looking for
a big overhang. Fold it in on
itself like this. And then I’m going to
crimp it like I did before. Oh, I just love how
homey that lattice looks. So that looks lovely. And I’m just going all over,
but I definitely don’t want it To seep into my filling. And then I’m going to
go along the edges here, And I want to make sure
that I get everywhere. So I’m going to put it on a
baking sheet before I sprinkle It. It’s going to be
so sparkly and fun. And that heavy cream just
really helps it stick. Perfect. There is going to be some
bubblige that probably happens While it’s in the oven. I’m going to tap this out and
line this sheet tray with foil While my pie just kind of sets
back up in the fridge for like 10 minutes.” [UPBEAT MUSIC] “(WHISPERS) Oh,
that looks so good. Oh my God. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. She looks — she’s cooked.

This looks fabulous. I’m just going to let
this cool completely, And that’s honestly going
to take a few hours, Which is going to be tough. But it’s necessary
for slicing. This is pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is one of
those things, no matter How hard people tried,
I think it was always Kind of the same. So this is a
sesame-swirled pumpkin pie. It’s a little toasty. It’s a little nutty. I’ve got my
parbaked pie crust. I mean, really, pumpkin pie
is like a pumpkin custard, So I love the addition
of yolks in there Because it helps make it a
little bit more custardy. I’m going to just start to
break this up a little bit. Obviously, pumpkin,
heavy cream for a little Luxuriousness. So this is kind
of like your base. It is your standard
pumpkin custard. It does not really have any
flavor to it other than sugar. I like to add a little
bit of black pepper just To add more of that
kind of savory note. Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg,
a little bit of vanilla. We’re going to level it up a
little bit with some toasted Sesame oil. I’m just going to mix this up. I’ve got tahini and a
little bit of sugar. Add just a little pinch
of salt to my tahini. And then this is just
a tablespoon of sugar. Mix that up. All right. So I take about 3/4
of this filling,

Then start to layer
in the tahini, Probably about half of it. And then you can
go in with a swirl. So the reason I do
this is so that you Get a little bit more
tahini throughout the pie. I felt like when I just added
all of the tahini on top, The color of the pie was very
tahini rather than orange. The rest of my pumpkin, then
I’m going to go back in with The rest of the tahini.” [FUNKY MUSIC] “You can go swirls. You can go whatever
shape your heart desires. I usually go through. You just do some nice swirls. Kind of a little spider
webby action going on there. Now, I’m going put this in the
oven on the lower rack for 35 To 40 minutes. It’s going to start to
look a little bit puffed On the sides. The center will
still be wobbly. If you overbake it, you do
run the risk of it cracking. We are also going to
cool this in the oven. Since it puffs up a little
bit, if it cools too quickly, You also run the
risk of it cracking. I will say,
sometimes it cracks. Sometimes it does not. All of the time
it is delicious. I do have a tiny
bit of separation, A little bit of cracking. I’m not really worried about
it, to be honest with you. Right now, it’s still
a little bit warm. I’m going to cool it to room
temperature before I put it In the refrigerator to chill
for at least four hours, If not overnight.

I’m envisioning some
really cool graphic text, Bourbon buttermilk
maple chess pie. Can we do that?” “Yes.” “This one probably truly is
the one that I eat the most. This pie tastes like
pancakes and coffee. Bourbon buttermilk maple
chess pie is topped with — That’s that me
espresso whipped cream, By the time this comes out. I mean, it’s already
pretty much dead. You get that nice coffee note,
and it’s also super easy. It’s literally just mixing
all of these things. Let’s get started. It’s just your eggs. I don’t have that
much sugar in there. Maple syrup is sweeter than
your traditional granulated Sugar. That is the predominant
flavor of this pie. I would like get a good one. I’ve got some buttermilk
here, some salt. It’s just a
tablespoon of bourbon. And if you don’t want to
use bourbon, use vanilla. It’ll be great anyway. But the bourbon really just
kind of adds that little hnn. Mix this up. Also in here is going
to be some butter That has been
melted and cooled. So cornmeal is
very traditional In your Southern chess pie. Just mix it really well.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Now you’ll see some
bubbles at the top. They will pop. It is fine.

Should we torch it? Whoa. Well, was that necessary? No. But was it fun? Yes. I feel like I’m in
a Pilates class. We’re going to do
35 to 40 minutes. You’re basically just looking
for the top to be like a kind Of a burnished brown. Oh, Holy Moses, I
think she’s ready. They’ll settle into a flat
layer for you to be able To put your whipped
cream on top. It’s just kind of the
nature of this pie. It almost souffles up on the
side and then settles flat. My friends are coming soon. We have to finish the pies. This is the espresso
whipped cream For the bourbon
buttermilk maple chess Pie, which I think just really
sends this over the edge. Truly makes it taste
like pancakes and coffee. I love it. Just very cold heavy cream. You need it to be cold so
that’ll whip up nicely. My powdered sugar. This is instant espresso and
just a little pinch of salt. Start it slow to get
it all incorporated. Then go fast. Finish it off. O.K. So I can see that
I’m holding the lines Of the whisk, which
is a good sign. And I think I’ve got some
nice medium stiff peaks. Dollop it on top,
and swirl it around. Offset spatula.

I’m doing this pretty gently
because it’s whipped cream, And I don’t want it
to deflate on me. So I’ll take my spatula.” [FUNKY MUSIC] “It’s pretty mesmerizing. Ooh, ah. You’re getting very sleepy. I really want these pies
to be bright and happy. Candied orange
peel to me, always Just represents the
holidays really well. I think it’s fine. I’ll try this one
out for a test. Sure. No. All right, we’re good. I hate it. I hate it. I can keep going for days. We gotta go. We gotta go. We gotta go. My friends are coming. I’m going to take these off,
but this is ready to eat. The salted coconut
caramel tart. This one could be
my favorite one. Affectionately known
as the Samoa tart Because it is like
the Girl Scout cookie. So the first thing
that we got to do Is make the dough
for it, which Is a chocolate pate sucrée. It really is shortbread
on the bottom. Frangipane, which is
essentially just blondie Texture, toasted
coconut caramel, Drizzled with chocolate,
flaky salt, it’s really,

Really good. So it all starts with
the chocolate dough. You can do this by hand. I make it in a food processor
just because I have it. It’s more cleanup, but less
active work with my hands. Some Dutch processed cocoa. Powdered sugar is basically
sugar that’s been processed With a little bit
of cornstarch. It adds the sweetness, but it
also keeps it really tender. This is just a
little bit of salt. So I’m just going to pulse
this just to get it all Incorporated. But try to get all those
lumps out of there, too. Yeah, ooh. Now I’ve got some cubed,
cold unsalted butter here. (SINGING) I got to, got to
try a little tenderness. O.K. So I’m going to just
pulse this a few times. You’re basically coating the
butter in that flour mixture. All right. So now what I’m going to do is
I’m going to beat my egg with A little bit of vanilla. Put that in there. And now I’m just going to
pulse until it forms that ball Around the blade. That was basically it. Let’s make sure. Alrighty. It’s good. It’s O.K. that there’s little
tiny flowery bits just from The top of my food processor. And just kind of like I did
with the pie dough, wrap it. It’s so much easier to
roll something out when you Basically start with the
shape that you want it to be In already.

Gently roll it into the edges
also I did with the pie dough. Just kind of keep
it very even. Chill this at least 30
minutes, up to overnight. The firmer it is, though,
the easier it’s going to be To roll out. O.K., so my tart dough is
chilled for a little bit. It’s definitely firmed up. It’s still pretty pliable,
though, which is nice. Oh, hello. This rolls out super easy. You don’t have to be
as delicate with it. But I do want to
make sure that I have A nicely floured surface. And I’m going to flour
both sides of this flour. Flour my rolling pin. And you can keep it moving,
also like the pie dough. Make your little quarter
turns here and there. I’m again looking for kind
of like a 12-inch round here, Like I did with the pie dough. And it is kind of delicate,
but again, like I said, It’s not the most
precious thing. I just find it’s easier for me
to get a more even tart if I Do press it like this. My dough is really
warm at this point. I’m going to freeze it without
it trimmed so that it makes For a cleaner trim. When it’s frozen, it’ll
be much, much sharper. O.K., I start by trimming
maybe halfway along the lip, And then that way I can
always trim a little bit more If I need to. I want to make sure it’s all
cleaned up around the edges Too because these little bits
that are left behind can burn These scraps, I mean, this
is basically like delicious Chocolate dough.

And you can roll
this out again And make little chocolate
biscuits, chocolate cookies, (BRITISH ACCENT) a
chocolate biscuit. Now, if you really wanted to,
you could go along the edge And trim it flush, which is
what I’m going to do here. So I just take the knife
parallel with the rim, And this creates that
really flush edge. Do the same thing I did
with the pie dough, just Making sure it has that
little room to breathe. Bake this on a rimmed baking
sheet for about 15 minutes, Just until it starts to look
a little bit more mattified. Wow. I’m exhausted. We’re rocking and rolling. We’re almost there. My tart crust is cool. What is cool is that
you can take it out. The frangipane sounds
like a fancy, scary word, But it’s truly so easy. It’s softened butter. Add my sugar, My
salt. Basically, You’re just throwing this all
together and mixing it up.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “I feel like Zoolander. The files are in the computer. You could also do this
with a wooden spoon. What? Oh my God. Whoa, whoa. How high does it go? Oh. I don’t want to test it yet. Add my egg one at a time. Oh, which one’s going to go?

Which one’s going to go? Whoa. This thing’s got
a lot of giddy up. So fun. Eyeball it. My almond flour, toasted
coconut, and my flour. I’m just going to
mix to combine. Whoa. I’m going to go ahead and fill
my shell with the frangipane. Just use an offset spatula
to get this in an even layer. This is going to go back
in the oven for about 20 To 25 minutes, just
until the frangipane is Kind of baked through. You think you just fell
from a coconut tree? O.K. We’re the last stage of
our coconut caramel tart. We got to make the
toasted coconut caramel. You can make a caramel. I promise you,
it’s not difficult. You do not need to be scared. Repeat after me. I can make a caramel. I am going to do what’s
called a wet caramel. So I’m basically starting
with sugar and a little bit Of water. Set that over probably
like a medium-ish heat Right now just to get
the sugar dissolving. I’m going to continue to stir
it right until the sugar is Dissolved because I don’t
want my sugar to crystallize. So I have a measuring cup
of water and a brush here. So if I see any bits of
sugar along the side, I am going to go
and brush it down. You’ll know the sugar is
dissolved when it’s pretty Clear.

I am going to
stop stirring it. You really just want to swirl
it so that you don’t get Really dark bits of caramel on
one part and then light bits On another. My sugar is all dissolved. These bubbles are essentially
pretty rapid right now Because it’s driving
off a lot of that water. You can see around the
edges of the pan here, I’m starting to get more
of that golden color. I think I’m about ready
to add my coconut milk. And I’m going to go ahead and
stop the cooking by adding My coconut. It will bubble
very vigorously. That is O.K. And I just really
want to cook it Down so it reduces even more. I want this to be
at that chewy stage. So if you have a
candy thermometer, 250 is what’s considered
the soft ball stage. So I’m at 250. You can see that the
bubbles have started To slow down a little
bit, become a little bit More viscous. And now I’m going to
add my butter, my salt, And my toasted coconut. And this really just helps
stop the cooking even further. Oh my goodness. The addition of the
toasted coconut in there Makes it smell truly so good. Let it hang out for
another few minutes, And then I’m going to pour
it over the tart that I made Earlier. Forgot the vanilla,
but no worries. Cool.

[LAUGHS]: Oh, it already
smells like the Girl Scout Cookie. We’re filming this
in Virgo season, And I want to make sure
it looks really pristine. So you can see it’s
still really spreadable. It’s almost like a frosting. My chocolate dough
wasn’t perfect, But this kind of
hides everything. O.K., I think I’m going to
live a little dangerously And try to take this out. Everybody’s looking at me
like I shouldn’t do it. I think it’s going to
slide right on out.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Now I’m just going to drizzle
some melted chocolate on it, Sprinkle it with a
little flaky salt. I’m going to blitz this in
the microwave just to melt it. You don’t want it to seize,
so just go in short bursts And stir every few seconds. See? I’m going to stop. Yeah, and I
probably need to stop. O.K. While the chocolate
is still melty, Sprinkle it with
some salt. All right. Now I’m going to let it set
up while we finish the rest Of our pies before
the pie shop gets up. I am taking you to
Flavortown with this one. Guy Fieri would love it. This is the salted
butterscotch banana cream pie. We’re going to start
with the crust, Which is Nilla Wafers crushed
up and 1/4 cup of sugar. There it does need
the good bit of salt, Especially with the
butterscotch pudding. We want to flavor this
pie basically throughout.

My sugar was a little
lumpy, so I just Want to get some of
those lumps out of there. And then now I’m going to
add the butter and my chopped Pistachios. Wow, those are really
green pistachios. Get it nice and mixed up. And this is perfect
sand castle consistency. I do this anytime I’m making
any crumb cracker crust. Even it out. And then working from
the middle outward, Make sure that
I’m fairly even. And then I take the flat
edge of a measuring cup. You just start
pressing that crust, Working your way
concentrically outward. You want this crust
to be pretty sturdy. I like my crust like I like
my men, even and sturdy. I don’t think that
makes any sense. You can see that it’s a
little thick right now along The walls. Once I get the bottom
to be a compact surface, That’s when I’m going to go
back in and really get those Sides nice and squished in. You can see when I did this,
that this part right here was Not very compact, so I
didn’t do a great job. It seems like I’m pretty
good all the way around. So now I’m just going to
freeze this for about 15 Minutes because that’s going
to help it maintain its shape. And this only bakes
for like 15 minutes. It’s really just
to start to set it. Ooh. I smell a teaching moment. All right. So I don’t know if my crust
was completely cool enough Before I put it in there, but
also this is a nonstick pan

Because we were running
low on resources here. I wouldn’t typically do
it at a nonstick pan. I would do it in just a
regular metal pan or even A glass pie plate. If it does slump,
it’s not a big deal. You can press it back up. Just be gentle with it, or
else you’ll start to break it. All right. So this is going to be
just a really simple Butterscotch pudding. Dark brown sugar, a
little bit of water, A medium, medium-high heat. So I’m seeing these
bubbles right now. Once I start to
see them slow down, That’s when I know I’m pretty
much at where I want to be. So I’m going to add a mixture
of heavy cream and milk. And it may sputter up at you. It may not. And then I’ve got my milk. Whisk all that in to combine. If you get any bits of
hardened brown sugar in there, That’s totally O.K.
They will dissolve. So essentially what I’m doing
here is I’m just bringing this Milk up to a simmer. You do not want to boil
the milk at this point. While that’s going, I’m going
to add my cornstarch to my egg Yolks. Boo. It’ll look like
a paste at first, And then it’ll
start to thin out. And this is basically what’s
going to thicken our pudding. If I went ahead and added
this to my pudding mixture Right now, I would
have scrambled eggs. What I’m going to do is
something called tempering,

Which basically means adding
your hot liquid to something That’s more room temperature
in order to slowly bring it up To temperature. You do want to stir fairly
constantly while you’re doing This. And then what I’m going to
do is I’m going to take this, And I’m going to add it
back into my pudding while Stirring. So now I’m going to turn my
pot back up to a more medium, Medium-high heat. And basically what I’m looking
for here is for really big Bubbles, Shrek’s
swamp bubbles. Once it’s thick enough to
hold the lines of the whisk, That is when I switch to the
spatula because the spatula is Also going to help me get into
those corners that are kind Of pesky. So I’m getting those
nice big bubbles. Add softened butter. You could also add
vanilla extract, But I love that rum
flavor with the bananas And some salt. Setting that off to the side. So now I’ve got my crust,
which is nice and cooled, So I’m going to layer. I mean, you don’t have to
be super precious with it. Slippery little suckers. Layer some. Overlap some. And I’m going to reserve
some for the top as well. And basically you just
want to cover the bottom. All right. So I’ve got my bananas
layered in there. Give your pudding, a
little bit of a stir. And I’m going to pour hot
pudding over the bananas.

Top it with the
rest of the bananas. It’s kind of like
tessellate them in there. And you can see the
pudding is already starting To set up, which is great. Mmm. Cover this loosely just so
that the skin doesn’t form. Cool for 30 minutes
of room temp, And then chill it completely
for at least four hours, If not overnight. It looks really good. This is a stabilized
whipped cream, Which basically means whipped
cream with some other kind Of fat in there. I chose to do creme fraiche. You can do creme fraiche. You can do sour cream,
anything that’s a little Tangy, honestly, because
I like how that tang cuts Through a lot of
the sweetness. Start on low just to
get everything going, And then I’ll
increase the speed. O.K. I think at this point
I’m going to add a little bit Of flavoring. You could either add vanilla. Or since I used rum
in the pie itself, I am going to just
add a tiny bit of rum And then a little
pinch of salt. All right. So for piping, I
do like to take it To just about stiff peaks. So let’s see. Yeah, that’s
pretty much there. I just want it to be stable
enough for me to pipe. This is just for like,
you know, for funsies. And just make squiggles
because it’s fun.

Why not? This is up to artistic
interpretation. Just one layer down below and
just filling it in wherever It’ll have me. Go in different directions. Because that butterscotch
is so rich and sweet, I really like how that
creme fraiche kind of cuts Through it. Under pressure, maybe not my
best work, but that’s O.K. So I’m going to top it
with these beautiful, Bright green pistachios. And you’ve got your
butterscotch banana cream pie With pistachios. This is going to just go
back and chill until our pie Stravaganza Got a nice little
bottle of champers. Everyone’s here. The pies are out. I’m so excited. I’m actually getting
a little emotional. I’m really just like,
this is so exciting. O.K., friends. You look fabulous.” “Oh, thank you.” “I am so excited. All right, everybody. Come enjoy some pies.” [FUNKY MUSIC] “Here’s to you
all for coming.” [CORK POPS] “Woo!” “Woo!” [APPLAUSE] “A little champagne for you.

Cheers.” “Cheers.” “I’m going to slice the pie. Y’all are going to have
to try all of them.” “Thank you.” “You got the first slice.” “This is incredible.” “You like that one? I tried with vodka, but then
I decided apple cider vinegar. More bubbles, too, so enjoy. Everybody, thank you so much
for coming to enjoy the pie. Hey, if you want the
recipes, where do you go?” “’New York Times
Cooking,’ baby.” “[LAUGHS]: [SNAPS]:
Hell yeah, mama. Happy Thanksgiving,
everybody.” [CHEERING] “Yay! You deserve a slice.”