Ginger Maple Pumpkin Pie Recipe + Holiday Table Decor Tips

Today's post is sponsored by Minted.com

I've always been fascinated with American Thanksgiving, guys. It seems WAY huger than Thanksgiving is here in Canada - am I right? Kids travel home from college for Thanksgiving, people fly or drive thousands of miles and everyone comes together as friends or a big old family for a beautiful feast of love and food - kind of like how my family would do it up for Christmas. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is the perfect example- people want to get home THAT badly for Thanksgiving. 

Man, John Candy. What a guy. COMEDY!

As with any party I throw, I like to mix it up - for my Thanksgiving dessert table, I used vintage pieces (such as my pie server and 1960s modern brown teapot) with handmade decor, pretty linens and flowers from the garden, and Minted party supplies such as that crazy cute GIVE THANKS fall foliage designer banner. 

The fun thing about creating your own look and feel for your Thanksgiving party is that you don't have to follow the rules. The GIVE THANKS came as a banner with pre-cut holes and some cute twine to string it along - I decided to mix it up and use some Japanese washi tape to stick it up, instead. 

With the extra banner pieces, I cut out the leaf design shapes and adhered them to tall wooden BBQ sticks as unique cupcake toppers and put them on top of my wooden cake stand.

For more fall colours and texture, I clipped a stem of burgundy hued hydrangea from ye olde hydrangea flower bush in our front yard and placed it in a simple white egg shaped vase. Cute!

Cruciality: you have to have some WICKED AWESOME treats when you throw a party! I'm a baking nut (I'm sure you know this by now) and have been loving this spicy creamy pumpkin pie - black pepper, maple syrup and ginger pumpkin pie with a buttery gingersnap crust. Don't fear the pie! This one is stupid easy to make - top with not-too-sweet maple syrup whipped cream and you've got a pumpkiny knock-out pie.

Ginger Maple Pumpkin Pie with Black Pepper

For the filling, combine: 

1 can of pure pumpkin (around 400 ml)

3 eggs, whisked

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup heavy cream (I used 33% percent)

For the crust: 

gingersnap crust (from Martha Stewart) 

1 3/4 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs. (I used Anna's Ginger Thins - I placed the content of about one and a half boxes into my food processor and ground it until crumb-like in texture).

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted.

Melt the butter over the stovetop or in a microwave. Mix together all of the ingredients with the butter and press the mixture into a 9 inch pie pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 7-9 minutes until crust is set, being careful not to burn it. Let cool completely on wire rack.

To assemble the pie:

1. Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the cooled gingersnap crust. 

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until set.

3. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. 

4. Make your whipped cream!

Now, cut yourself a slice, plop a big old pile of whipped cream on top and enjoy!

This lovely post was brought to you by Minted.com! Find all of your Minted holiday decor right here - mix it up with some vintage and handmade DIY pieces - and you have a party to call your own! Woot!

What is your Thanksgiving or holiday decor go-to style? Easy breezy slam-it-up easy? Sparkly, ruthlessly edited and glitzy?Would love to hear! 

xo Lyndsay