Pumpkin Pecan Pie Recipe

Fleckenstein's Baker to Judge National Competition

When Bob Fleckenstein, co-owner of Fleckenstein’s Bakery in Mokena, judges the national championships in baking at SkillsUSA in Kansas City next week, he knows he’ll be seeing some of the best and brightest future bakers in the United States.

“It’s exciting,” he said of his volunteer judging role, which he’ll take on for the third year at SkillsUSA , a national competition for high school and post-secondary students involved in the trades.

On June 22 and 23, more than 5,700 students will compete in 61 skilled trade and technical fields such as cosmetology, cabinetmaking, masonry, graphic communications, culinary arts and sheet metal work. Each contestant at the national level was a gold medal winner at the state level. Scholarships for future studies will be awarded to the national winners.

Fleckenstein, himself a certified master baker, will work with about a dozen other certified master baker judges to evaluate the contestants. Judges are divided into teams of two and must each review two of the six baked goods submitted by every contestant. In the baking division, there are 39 high school and 20 post-secondary students.

“The contestants must stick to the recipe exactly,” Fleckenstein said. “If they put too much salt in, we’ll taste it. And we have to judge the same item for everybody.”

High school students will be preparing white yeast bread, pumpkin bread, a sweet dough, sugar cookies and pineapple pie. Post-secondary students will make French bread, blueberry muffins, butter tea cake, éclairs and pecan pie. Both groups also have to decorate a cake.

The students start at 8 a.m. and must be finished by 3:30 p.m. with the baked goods prepared for serving. While the students are baking, the judges walk around and evaluate their performance in progress, Fleckenstein said.

The final products are judged on external and internal appearance, as well as taste and presentation, he added.

SkillsUSA has more than 40 years of experience preparing students for skilled and technical trade fields, according to their website . More than 1,100 industry professionals like Fleckenstein donate time, money or other resources to the ongoing training of future tradespeople.

But it's the practical work experience, not the book smarts, that will hone their skills and develop excellence, Fleckenstein said. Baking is an art that is developed through dedication and practice.

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Pie | Tasty Kitchen: A Happy Recipe ...

Preparation Instructions

**There are many more details to the assembly and baking in my related blog post, so if you are considering making this pie, I’d definitely check out the blog post first!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Beat cream cheese with the sugar until it is well combined and not lumpy.

3. Add the vanilla and a dollop of sour cream (a slightly rounded tablespoon), and beat until incorporated.

4. Add the egg, and beat until combined and the lumps are pretty much gone. Try not to overbeat.

5. Pour the cheesecake layer into the bottom of the crust.

6. Combine the pumpkin, sugar, spices, salt, milk, egg and whites in a bowl, and whisk until thoroughly combined (can do by hand).

7. Layer the pumpkin mixture on top of the cheesecake mixture carefully. Spoon it on gently, and then spread it out.

8. Put some aluminum on the edges of the crust to protect it from over-browning.

9. Bake it into a 400F oven for 5 minutes then, without opening the door, turn the oven down to 375F and keep baking for an additional 25 minutes.

10. While it is baking, assemble the pecan topping. Combine the pecans, brown sugar and maple syrup in a bowl and stir to combine well.

11. After the 25 minute bake time is up, take the pie out of the oven.

12. Working quickly, remove the shield and start sprinkling the topping evenly all over the pie.

13. Put the shield back on if you think it is necessary

14. Put the pie back in the oven to bake for another 20 minutes.

15. After the time is up, try to take a peak (without opening the door if you can) and see how the crust is doing (if you didn’t already cover it with a shield). Decide whether to use the shield or not for the final minutes based on the level of browning.

16. Let the pie bake for a further 10 minutes.

17. Remove it from the oven and place it on a wire rack for cooling.

18. Let the pie cool down at room temperature for at least an hour before covering and storing in the fridge.

19. Overnight chilling yields the best results.

This is extremely tasty! I added a bit (1T) of brandy to the cheesecake layer, and cooked it in a gluten free pie crust. The cheesecake set nicely, the pumpkin layer was scrumptious and the pecans in caramelized sugar are amazing. Great ending to Thanksgiving dinner!

My only note: the “easy” difficulty level is a bit misleading. Sure, if you’re an experienced baker putting this together isn’t taxing. However, mixing three separate layers, setting and resetting the timer as you add additional layer while baking require more skill/patience than a first time baker might have.

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