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     When we were working on our pie book and developing new recipes, one of my friends asked me if we made Chocolate Pecan Pie. She hadn't seen a recipe for it, but was thinking that the combination of flavors sounded good.  I told her that I would give it a try and bring her one if it was successful.  So, I started scouring Pinterest for the many versions of Chocolate Pecan Pie available.  

     Most of the recipes I found simply added chocolate chips to the pie, along with the pecans.  So, I tried a version of that idea.  It seemed promising. The pie looks really delicious, right?  Well, my husband was unimpressed with the flavor.  I have to admit that I was as well.  I feel like the best part of the Pecan Pie is the custard below the pecans.  In this case, the chocolate overpowered that creamy texture and rich flavor.  Not to mention that as the chocolate chips cooled and rehardened, it made the pie difficult to slice! So, I checked off the chocolate chip method as a fail. 

     One of the beauties of Pecan Pie is that it is really super easy to whip up.  A lot of the recipes I found made the process so much more difficult, so I gave those a hard pass.  One day I was discussing the Chocolate Pecan Pie idea with Maddy and she suggested I toast and candy the pecans with brown sugar and cocoa powder to see if that would give the hint of chocolate that we wanted.  I thought, "Genius!"  So, I gave it a try.  The pecans came out really tasty after I toasted them in a skillet with butter, brown sugar and cocoa powder.  And, the crumbs from the toasting left a sort of chocolate swirl through the custard part of the pie.  But, when it was baked all together, the flavor of the chocolate really didn't come through at all. I still liked this idea though, and may explore it further.

     To make a long story short, the Chocolate Pecan Pie didn't make it into the ebook and my friend hasn't received her pie.  A couple of other suggestions I may try are:

• Add chocolate syrup or cocoa to the custard mix.
• Simply bake the pie in a chocolate crust.
• Just drizzle chocolate syrup over the pie after it is baked! 

     But really, I think the moral of this story is that not every really good thing has to be chocolate!  I know, I know, unbelievable! But I have tweaked my Pecan Pie recipe over the years until it is a family favorite, with the perfect balance between the amount of pecans and the custard below them.  My husband is firmly in the camp of not messing with the Pecan Pie at all! It is his all time favorite! Sometimes you just don't mess with a good thing.

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      Today's post will be educational as well as delicious!  As you can imagine, there is a story behind how this post came to be.  Here it is. 
     My husband and I were watching PBS the other night. There was a special on about Fall in New England.  As part of the special, we learned that when the pilgrims made pie, they didn't have much flour at the time for a pie crust, so they would bake custard right inside of the pumpkin.  Then, they would slice the pumpkin in pie shaped wedges.  Their pie had a spiced milk custard in it and the pumpkin was still just like the squash that it is and you would get some custard and pumpkin all at the same time when you took a bite.  
     Well, loving history like I do, I decided that I needed to try this method and of course take it a step further.  Why not put actual pumpkin custard inside the pumpkin? So, I went to the store and not only did I find pumpkins for pie, but some other really great squash that I knew would work as a substitute for pumpkin if I wanted.  Click on or hover over the pictures for descriptions.

Then I saw the Turban Squash!  I was sold on that guy!  He just looked ready to be my pie! 

     The directions on the Turban squash said to bake it at 350 degrees for an hour.  I decided to try that without cleaning it out first.  I did clean out the smaller pumpkins and baked them without seeds.  What happened is the pumpkins and carnival squash were done after around an hour.  The Turban Squash took 2 hours. 

Here is how the Carnival and Turban squashes looked after being baked.  The Carnival squash browned a little more than I would have liked, but it is okay.  In retrospect, I could have taken them out a little sooner, I will explain why in a moment. 

    That is the Turban Squash after I cut the top off of course.  It was so nice and tender inside and the seeds pulled out very easily.  Then, I scooped out the flesh into a bowl to use as the "pumpkin" puree. 

     At this point, I decided to fill the  shells 3 ways.  In the little pumpkins, I used the vanilla custard.  This is when I learned that I had baked the pumpkins a little too long because they developed leaks in the bottom and I lost some of the custard.  This is the recipe I used: 

Baked Vanilla Custard Cooked In A Pumpkin

     You can see in this picture that some of the custard leaked out, so it didn't end up as full as I had hoped.  I also feel like it had baked a little too long.  So, this is something you will need to watch, but this was an experiment and it was okay.  It tasted pretty good anyway. 

     In the Carnival Squash, I decided to make Maddy's Vegan Pie.  She liked it, even though she doesn't usually like squash.  I thought it was cute to serve it with the lid on. 

Vegan Pumpkin Custard

Oh! And one thing I forgot to mention in the recipes is that I put a pan of water on the bottom shelf of the oven when I baked these. 

     For the Turban Squash Pie, I used the squash puree and followed our normal pumpkin puree recipe to  make the filling.  You can find that recipe here. Here is how that pie turned out. If you hover or click on the pictures, there are descriptions.

      One thing I wanted to mention about the Turban Squash is that I think it would be an awesome squash to bake a stew in!  You wouldn't need to bake it as long as the pie had to bake and getting that bite of squash mixed in with your stew would be delicious.  Doesn't that sound like a great Fall dish?  I may have to try that and let you know how it goes. 

     In the end, this was an interesting, educational and time consuming project.  I think it would be great to use this method with kids as part of a Thanksgiving history lesson. Also, it was really fun discovering a new, super cool looking squash like the Turban and a cute one like the Carnival!  But, when all is said and done, I am really thankful that I have the flour and the means to make pumpkin pie the way we do in our day! Remember, the custard recipes I have given you can also be baked in a custard dish or regular pie shell. 

     Speaking of pie, if you haven't yet gotten your copy of For the Love of Pie, you can still get a 20% discount through tomorrow with code PIESPECIAL!  Don't miss out, because after tomorrow the price goes back to normal.  In this special e-book all about pie, you will learn how to bake not only Pumpkin Pie, but many other pies not already published on this blog.  Some are original pies, invented by us that we are sure you will enjoy! Be sure to check it out! 

​**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are ​

      You may have noticed that for the past 2 weeks, our normal Friday Faves posts have been taken over by something delicious. PIE!  That's right!  We have just published our Pie E-book entitled, For the Love of Pie.  WE ARE SO EXCITED!  It's on sale right now and you can order your own copy right this instant by clicking this link! 
       Let me tell you about what you will find in this nearly 50 page e-book! 

• Yes, there will be pies from this blog that we have compiled into one easy place to find them. (Like the Best Ever Pecan Pie recipe that I have perfected over the years. My husband's Fave!)
• There are recipes for classics, like lemon meringue and peach,  that we haven't shared before. 
• There are delicious recipes for pies that we invented that no one but our closest friends have ever tasted! You will want to try Caramel Apple, Peach Cobbler Pie! 
• There are vegan pies, like Coconut Banana! 
• There is a list of things you will need or would like to have to assist in your pie baking.  You can make fabulous crusts! 
• The best crust recipes are in there and how to make them look amazing! 

The list goes on! 
     Just think you guys, it is almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas!  Here is the opportunity to becoming the pie aficionado of your family and friends.  You can bring the best and most beloved desserts to any gathering with confidence when you use our tried and true recipes. It really is as easy as pie! 
     The  great thing about an e-book is that you can just keep it as a file on your computer or you can download it and print it all or print only the pages that you want. I love printing the recipes I find on the internet because the next time I want to make it I don't have to search for it.  I keep it in my Bloggelicious Baking Binder and they are right at my fingertips!  While you are in our shop, you may want to grab the Bloggelicious Baking Binder set for yourself. It is a great place to store the recipes that you print from Pinterest or Our Blog! There is a pie section that will be the perfect place to store your For the Love of Pie Cookbook. And if you came to our Pie Night Party, you should have received a special code that will give you a substantial discount on the book.  But, use it by November 10th because that's when it expires. 
     Thanks so much for your support! We know you will love the book if you love pie. And I want to give a special shout-out to Alicia for all of her great computer skills that totally made this book possible. Not to mention everyone's baking skills! There is a lot of love in these pies!