This past weekend I hosted another pie party. This is my third autumn pie party, and it is such fun party to do - you can compare it to last fall’s pie party HERE.
Autumn somehow feels like pie season. With the weather cool enough to turn on the oven again and bake with abandon, the timing was right. And who doesn’t love pie?
I planned the Saturday date not realizing it fell on a holiday weekend until after the invitations went out, but it turned out plenty of guests were still in town and able to come help me divest myself of all the pies!
The Table Decor
The setting was similar to last year, but with a few substitutions.
The centerpiece, rather than being traditional oranges, reds and golds, was more neutral and with a slightly more countrified elegance. I used a rustic round wooden tray with iron handles as the base for my trio of mercury glass pumpkins and then tucked in an array of white baby boo mini pumpkins and thin bottles with white and green flower stems.
The centerpiece tray sat atop a pale green table cloth square set on the diagonal exposing the cherry wood of the table.
Pies were displayed, some on cake stands and others on wicker chargers, for a variety of heights which is a key element to an appealing buffet table.
A scattering of votive candles filled in the negative spaces around the pie buffet items, and napkins were printed with a green and white pumpkin scene.
The Menu
The menu involved 6 pies and two sauces for topping, along with extra whipped cream and vanilla ice cream.
Funny story about the ice cream…last year I had this brilliant idea to freeze the ice cream carton into an ice bucket filled with water to provide an ice jacket that would keep the ice cream at least mostly frozen whilst on the buffet table.
It works beautifully. So long as you grab the right ice cream flavor?! Because once it is encased in its ice jacket it is NOT coming back out until a fair amount of thawing has occurred!
Unfortunately, in my whirlwind of activity on Friday, I grabbed the Malted Moo Shake (FABULOUS flavor, but not particularly as a pie accompaniment!) instead of the French Vanilla and froze it into the bucket. I did not discover my mistake until shortly before the party when I opened the lid and saw chocolate chunks. Oy.
Panic ensued until I finally realized my only choice was to scoop out the ice cream into another container so I could remove the carton and manhandle the correct carton into place. Phew!
On Thursday, I made the 7 crusts I would need for 5 of the pies plus one extra for a quiche later this week. I used this absolutely foolproof Vodka crust, recipe HERE. It has three attributes that make it the best pie crust on the planet:
You can make it in the food processor (the recipe make two crusts worth at a time)
It rolls out like play dough - with no drama, crumbling or extreme sticking
It bakes up perfectly buttery, tender, and flaky just like the best pie crust should
On Thursday, I also make the three pies that hold best and even improve with sitting, and pre-baked the one pie shell I would need for another pie.
Mile High Apple Pie - perennially delicious! This is a Neiman Marcus apple pie recipe and possibly the best apple pie ever. I like to use cardamom instead of the cinnamon for a slight twist on the traditional flavor. Best Apple Pie recipe HERE
Blueberry Pie - this was a new recipe for me and it was REALLY good (I used my vodka crust instead of her crust recipe)! From Sally’s Baking Addiction, recipe HERE
Classic Pecan Pie - this is my favorite pecan pie from Serious Eats, recipe HERE - with 3 cups of pre-toasted pecans it manages to not be cloyingly sweet in spite of all the sugar and sugar-adjacent ingredients.
I’ve made this many times before and this time, even though it LOOKED perfect and puffed up and did all the things it was supposed to do, it didn’t set up properly and so was runny when sliced. Disappointing, to be sure, but still delicious and since it disappeared entirely, I’d say it was a success in spite of itself!
On Friday morning I made the remaining, custard-like pies. Friday Evening, I made the sauces and popped the (wrong) ice cream in the ice bucket bath (wrapping the cardboard in a plastic bag to protect it from the water, and using packing tape across the top to keep it from floating up before it froze in place)
Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Praline Sauce. The is my go to Thanksgiving pumpkin pie recipe from Smitten Kitchen. While the praline sauce isn’t strictly necessary, it makes a WONDERFUL addition to the silky pumpkin pie. And it would be a delicious ice cream topping too - so leftovers definitely won’t go to waste (I doubled the recipe so I’d have plenty left over LOL)
Chocolate Cream Pie - sooo chocolatey and smooth and not too sicky-sweet. Last year I topped this with meringue, which was tasty, but didn’t stay nicely stuck to the pie - I think maybe I should have done it before it cooled, but in any case this year I opted to top it with whipped cream like the recipe calls for.
Key Lime Pie - last year this disappeared in record time. This year my favorite key lime pie devotee was away at college so there was one piece left over LOL.
I served this Key Lime Pie recipe from Smitten Kitchen with a side of raspberry coulis to drizzle on top, which just elevated the whole thing to new heights. Raspberry coulis is just a bag of frozen raspberries simmered with 1/2 cup of sugar and a generous splash of Chambourd raspberry liqueur, then pushed through a sieve with a spoon. The most time consuming part is forcing the solids through the sieve to get the raspberry pulp separate from the seeds. There are special conical shaped sieves for this purpose that would probably make it faster and easier, but I don’t own one - yet.
For beverages, we had coffee (regular and decaf) hot spiced cider, and ice water…because someone ALWAYS asks for ice water at these things LOL.
While I wanted to offer a variety of pies, 48 pieces of pie for 15 or so guests kind of a lot and I did NOT want to end up with a huge full of pie looking at me for the next week.
SO, I purchased these clever clamshell pie slice to-go containers (click HERE for affiliate link to purchase) and encouraged guests to take some of their favorites home, successfully removing the majority of the pie from my weak-willed line of vision!
It was a fun evening and I plan to repeat it. Maybe for Pi Day next spring since it obligingly falls on a Saturday…send me your favorite pie suggestions!
