Monday, October 31, 2011

"Psych"-Inspired Cinnamon Pie


I have a confession. I am completely hooked on "Pysch"--you know, that ridiculously crazy, crazily good, pseudo-pyschic comedy-drama mystery series on USA. It's this new obsession that I discovered a few weeks ago thanks to my husband and the good people at Netflix. Last week, we watched the "Dual Spires" episode, in which Shawn and Gus go to a small town to attend a cinnamon festival, but stay for the cinnamon pie (not to mention the not-unforeseen murder investigation).Comedic and investigative antics aside, the homemade cinnamon pie in the episode was impossible to forget. It was mouthwatering. It was sweet. But most of all, it was addictive. I had to try it.

There are a few cinnamon pie recipes floating around the Internet, but this one from Allrecipes seemed to have the most promise. Boy oh boy, was this ever a good pie. Springy with a mild autumnal flavor, this custardy confection was a great little afternoon perk-me-up. I imagine it'd be just perfect with coffee, tea, or a scoop of ice cream.

But I've got to admit, it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. I envisioned an extremely rich, creamy pie with a deep cinnamon flavor and gritty texture that allowed you to taste individual sugar granules. I wanted something so strongly aromatic, I'd feel like I was in Dual Spires, something so sweet my teeth might fall out...OK, so maybe not that sweet.

Next time (and there will definitely be a next time!), I think I will try a less flaky crust, substitute the milk for half-and-half or heavy whipping cream, and add another half teaspoon of cinnamon. Maybe I could even use some brown sugar. In the mean time, try the original Cinnamon Pie recipe I used and see what works best for you!

Cinnamon Pie (Courtesy Sharon Miller, allrecipes.com)
1 C sugar
1 1/2 T all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 egg, beaten
2 T butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 C milk
1 10-inch unbaked pie crust


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Add the beaten egg, butter, and vanilla. Mix well and add the milk. Pour mixture into an unbaked 10-inch pie crust (glass pie plate is best). Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for and additional 45 minutes. Let cool and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.

28 comments:

  1. Me and my kids all love psych. Totally hooked on it. Was googling the cinnamon pie recipe from that episode. I will try this with your substitutions. Thanks so much.

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    1. how was the pie with the substitutes? hooked on psych as well!

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    2. Amanda L. I did exactly the same thing

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  2. I have never tasted a cinnamon pie, but one of the most amazing pies I have ever tasted was Pecan Pie. Warm not hot, plain with ice cream or whipped. Bought frozen in about 40-50 minutes it's a great dessert. Mary Ann, also stuck on Psych.

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  3. Ha, I'm watching this episode right now! I Googled "cinnamon pie" because it sounded amazing, and stumbled upon your site! :) Thanks for the recipe!

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  4. Yeah, that Twin Peaks episode was great. I always enjoy the episodes that wholly written as references to old movies or TV shows.

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  5. Watching the Dual Spires episode as I type. I make a pretty mean cheesecake, so I might try with a few additions (more cinnamon!, cinnamon extract, brown sugar, mascarpone, sour cream, vanilla bean and maybe even a touch of coconut). Thanks so much for posting!

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  6. Found your site looking for a cinnamon pie after rewatching "Dual Spires." Great recipe and blog! :-)

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  7. Thank you all for the fabulous comments and feedback! I'm loving the great discussion we've got going here!

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  8. Made this for Thanksgiving and it was such a big hit I'm making it again for Christmas. I use brown, not white, sugar, triple the amount of cinnamon, substitute cream for milk (what the hell...holiday calories don't count!), and bake in a cinnamon Graham cracker crust. Perfection!

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  9. Ah I just watched Dual Spires and couldn't get the cinnamon pie out of my mind! I'm so glad I found you! Can't wait to try it :) :)

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  10. I ended up here while watching Dual Spires, too :) I made this pie this morning, also doubling the cinnamon, using brown sugar & evaporated milk. In my grandma's old lard pie crust recipe, it was amazing! I am going to try the graham crust next time, though. Thanks for posting this!

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  11. Watching Dual Spires, needed to wrap my head around the whole cinnamon pie concept. I'm planning on atttempting it using triple the cinnamon, also using a blend of veitnamise, cylon and cassia cinnamon with heavy cream and brown sugar playing substitutions.

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  12. Twin Peaks was a really creepy show... but I love Psych! And I'm sure I'll love this pie!

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  13. making it now! cross your fingers hoping that it will be good!!

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  14. I love how watching Psych always makes me Google something delicious! Looking forward to trying my hand at cinnamon pie with many of the tweaks suggested here :) I'd definitely go with brown sugar and cream, and perhaps walnut dust in the crust for good measure.

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  15. Like everyone else, as soon as they tasted it in the episode I googled cinnamon pie to see if it existed. I will be making this ASAP!

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  16. Watching the episode right now, searching for Cinnamon Pie.

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  17. Watching Rite now (on ION Channel) lol and after imagining how wonderful cinnamon pie tasted I HAD to Google this and im Definitely gonna try your recipe with a few tweaks lol:-) Thanks Ladies!!! Sarah

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  18. So I tried to make this for my stepmom for mothers day because we are both big psych fans and were watching it this morning but it doesn't look anything like the picture (not that I was expecting it to) Its just all white on the bottom and taste just of the milk. We decided to let it cool for a little longer then try it again. I think I folowed the instructions perfectly, but do you know if I did anything wrong?

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, Rosella. Hmmm, my guess is there may have been a little too much milk added (or too little cinnamon/sugar), or the filling may have needed more mixing. Did you use a liquid measuring cup for the milk?

      Good luck in your future baking adventures! :)

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  19. Too funny. I also found this while watching Dual Spires! Had to figure out what cinnamon pie was! Can'twait to try it.

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  20. I am possibly one of the biggest Psych fans and I am totally "psych"-ed to have finally found a recipe. I am going to attempt this pie and I am so exited for it. if it works, then thank you!

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  21. made the pie...and I used some of your substitution's, I used a 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 brown sugar. what I'm going to try though, for a true custard pie like this, Is use sweetened condensed milk...absolute fan of Psych! thanks for the recipe!

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  22. I'm a huge Psych fan and I have always wanted to get some of that cinnamon pie from the festival. I finally looked up recipes and happenned upon your blog. I tried it substituting milk for heavy whipping cream and I added one and one half tsp of cinnamon. Everything else was by the recipe and it turned out amazing, albeit a little rich for me. Probably be better with a little Vanilla Ice cream and Whip Cream haha. But thank you. I have completed my dream of tasting delicious cinnamon pie.

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  23. So PSYCHed I found your post!

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  24. Me and my daughter are huge Psych fans too! Wonder why in the world they stopped the series? Well, she has been talking about the cinnamon pie fest, and so googling, we didn't find a cinnamon festival for the fall anywhere, but we found your site. I'm about ready to try this out, but instead of one teaspoon...I'm upping mine to one tablespoon...it's a cinnamon pie right? I put almost that much in my pumpkin pies...and since you mentioned custard, I think making it more of a custard would be good, so I'll be adding the condensed milk I think...so this should be phenomenal!

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  25. I love how everyone here is a huge fan of psych it's great to see other fans still enjoying the show I will definitely be making this pie soon it's great to connect with other psych-os so many years after the show ended. I was watching duel spires and decided to Google the pie as well thanks so much for the recipe. #waitforiiiiit

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