Pumpkin Pie made with, gasp …
Pumpkins!
Have you ever had a moment of revelation? They’re rare, but I can assure you they do exist. Those little moments in life where you find something out and realize up until that very point in time you were living in the dark. Like a fish living life at the bottom of the sea. Like a bug burrowed deep in the bark of a tree. Like a bozo.
About 9 years ago I discovered something that knocked me right on my ass.
You can make pumpkin pie out of actual pumpkins. Sugar pumpkins to be precise.
I swear to God I had no idea there was any option other than opening up a can of pumpkin. And it’s not like I was some sort of canned food eating lunatic who thought peas or beans or those tiny little cobs of corn only came in cans. I knew all of these things could be found fresh. (now that I think of it, cans might be the only place you can find those tiny little cobs of corn.)
It just never occurred to me for some reason that you could make pumpkin pie by cooking a pumpkin. Until one day I saw a sign. It said:
Pie Pumpkins!
Holy crap! I bought a pumpkin. I made a pie.
I did it again yesterday to show you it’s true! You can make a pie out of a pumpkin.
First things first … you need a pie pumpkin. These are the smaller pumpkins you see around. About the size of my head. Not my boyfriend’s head. That’s too big.
About the size of my head. Like this.
By the way, isn’t that the most perfect pumpkin stem you’ve ever seen? This one’s pretty good too.
Now I need you to take that pretty stem and crack it off.
Then grab the nearest chef’s knife and whack your pumpkin in half.
Inside it’ll look just like a squash does when you split it in half.
Scoop out all of the guts and fibres …
… then place face down on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 minutes – 1 hr.
The pumpkins are done when they’re easily pierced with a fork.
When they’ve cooled a bit, flip the pumpkins over and grab a spoon.
Scrape the flesh out of the pumpkins and put it into a bowl.
One small pumpkin will yield around 3 cups. Plenty for one pumpkin pie.
Puree your pumpkin either in a traditional blender or with a hand blender.
Blend it until it has a very smooth consistency.
Because pumpkin tends to be a bit watery, it’s best to strain it in some cheesecloth for a few hours.
I just set mine in the fridge overnight. About a cup of liquid drained out of the pumpkin pulp.
Now you have cooked, strained pumpkin like they sell in cans. Only often the pumpkin sold in cans is actually squash. Seriously. Look at the ingredients on a can of pumpkin.
Now you just continue on as you normally would if you were making pumpkin pie, substituting your homemade pumpkin for the canned stuff.
Classic Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
2 cups Pumpkin Puree
1, 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsps. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. lemon zest
1 homemade crust
Preheat your oven to 425° F.
Add sugars, salt, spices and lemon zest into bowl.
Mix.
Beat the eggs and add them to the bowl of mixed ingredients.
Now add your homemade pumpkin puree!
Incorporate well.
Add in the can of evaporated milk and mix well.
Roll out your favourite homemade pie crust. Yeah. I know. I like my rolling pin too.
Line your pie plate with dough.
Fill with pumpkin pie filling.
Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 350°F and bake an additional 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near the centre comes out fairly clean. (if you wait until the knife comes out perfectly clean the pie will be overdone!)
Cool pie on wire rack for a couple of hours to allow pie to set completely.
Top with Maple Syrup Whipped Cream and enjoy!
Oh Yeah! And I also made this thing. A pumpkin pie made out of that canned pumpkin glop and a frozen pie crust.
Check back next week to see which my family preferred after I serve them a piece of each at Thanksgiving Dinner. Yup. It’s a Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie taste test. Results on Monday!
They’re getting canned cranberry sauce, by the way. Yeah, yeah. I know.
Adrienne Audrey
Looks delish! I think I will try this!
Leah
You can make pumpkin ale with the strained pumpkin juice. ;)
Jamieson
Let’s talk cranberry sauce. Easy as pie. I add some pomegranate seeds. Fresh cranberry sauce is vastly underrated. Seriously, let’s talk. Maybe I won’t bring up the “add 1 homemade pie crust” shortcut you’ve furtively thrown in above, cheater!
Karen
HAHAHAH. Yes … about the pie crust thing. I fully admit to shirking. I thought with the 50 pictures and epic length of the post I should probably skip the homemade crust instruction. I have made homemade cranberry sauce before but … I have the turkey, the stuffing, the pies, the mashed potatoes, the pulling out the dining room table leaves from under my bed, the setting the table (WITH my Dollarama table runners), the smoked tomato and roasted red pepper soup … and on and on. (plus I don’t actually eat cranberry sauce so what the hell do I care?!) love Karen.
Karen
OH! And a television crew coming to shoot here on Friday. Plus one of my cats seems to be getting a little “puddiny”. Might have to start taking her for evening constitutionals.
Shauna
I will see if I can buy pie pumpkins tomorrow!! Thanks for the tip. I’ve heard you can make turnip pie….have you tried this?
Karen
Turnip Pie!! No. I have never heard of turnip pie! I assume it’s something you’d serve *with* dinner as opposed to after it with whipped cream. Or maybe not. Add enough maple syrup to the turnips I guess and anything’s possible.
Janelle
Thanks for this lovely post; I dig the Autumny-y pictures and am left with a serious hankering for punkin’ pie…still too lazy to bake at this point in my evening, but definitely could lay into one. No judgment on the cranberry sauce, but I did giggle at the fact that it takes about five minutes to make and with all the other stars you’re reaching for, THAT is where you chose to draw the line. It is awesome. The cranberry that broke the Karen’s back.
Karen
I know … I know! If someone else wants to make and bring the 5 minute cranberry sauce with pomegranate seeds they’re more than welcome to. But at this point … that is exactly right. The cranberry that broke the Karen’s back. LOL.
Pati
Thanks for all the work you put into this post…great pictures too. I have done this but have never found “pie pumpkins” so have used just regular ones…they work but will have to try your method of letting some juice drain out.Good tip:)
Oh I want to say that I keep a rubber mallet in my kitchen and when I have to cut a squash or a pumpkin, I put the veggie on a cloth so it won’t fly around and get a really long knife and whack it with the mallet(usually at the tip of the knife)….cuts through it no prob! Try it, it saves your hands and makes it so much easier.
Karen
Thanks for the tip Pati! It’d probably be GREAT for cutting turnip. Surprisingly though, the pumpkins are really easy to cut through. Much easier than a squash. Who would have thought?!
Elise
Here is a really cute idea for what to do with your gorgeous pumpkin stems! I have wanted to make these for a few years now, but unfortunately, gorgeous pumpkin stems are not very easy to come by in the dry dry desert of Las Vegas.
http://www.plushpumpkin.com/velvet-pumpkins.html
Karen
Elise! Those pumpkins are beauuuutiful. I love them. – karen!
Nicole Lisa
Oh wauw… I didn’t realize this was a big secret.
I live in a country where canned pumpkin just isn’t available, so if I want pumpkin pie I had to make it from scratch every time.
Yours look very good though, so I might borrow your recipe.
magali
You have decorative haystacks on your counter? did you buy them like that?
Karen
I did! In fact my boyfriend got them for me last year and I kept them in tact in a rubbermaid bin in the basement. I got 3 different sizes of them. Large, medium and small at my local garden centre. They’re pretty cute!
Brittany
Wow, who knew it was that easy??!! And to think that on my way home today I was going to swing by the store to grab canned pumpkin… never again! lol
My aunt often tricks my family by making her “pumpkin pie” with sweet potatoes… can’t even tell the difference!
Rebecca
Now, I might be wrong, but aren’t sugar pumpkins and pie pumpkins the same thing? Maybe they’re just labelled differently? I’m totally making this and have been waiting for this post since the comment in the whipped cream post! Yeah, how sad am I?
Now, on a more serious note, you don’t make your own cranberry sauce? Woman, what is wrong with you? It’s maximum pay-off for almost no effort! People think you’re some sort of superstar if you can boil a bag of cranberries with some sugar and lemon zest. It’s ridiculous. And you can do it way ahead of time. And for the record, cranberry sauce rocks!
Karen
Rebecca! Yes, sugar pumpkins are a type of pie pumpkin. There are a few different types with sugar pumpkins being the most popular. And NO. I am not making my own cranberry sauce. And there is nothing wrong with me. I have made it. I realize it’s easy. I’m not doin’ it. Perhaps I will farm the task out to one of the 15 people coming. End of story. NOT MAKING CRANBERRY SAUCE! Phew. That feels better. ~ karen
Rebecca
Whoops, forgot to add…
Turnip pie? Ugh, just shoot me now before you put that on my plate!
Lynda
I’m going to try this on Monday (our Canadian Thanksgiving) I’m a newby to your blog and I love it.
A Dollarama has opened up in the next town and I’m going there tomorrow. I’m starting to fill with anticipation already.
Thanks again for your such a great blog.
Kim from Milwaukee
Karen, please tell me you soak your punkin seeds in saltwater then roast them….I’ll cry if they got thrown on the compost pile.
jenn
oh yes, roasted SEEDS! the very best part of pumpkin carving.
Natalie
I will definately be making a pumpkin pie this year. It looks way better than the sad little frozen crust/sloppy can pumpkin pie that you made (although I’m sure that’s great too :/)
The best is when you get cranberry from the can and it retains its shape of the can (this might be cranberry gelatin or something). My mom whipped it out of the can one year for Thanksgiving and cut into slices, complete with can indentations still on it :)
jenn
haha! you guys are fantastic.
i really wanted to try making pie from scratch last year, but there was some sort of ridiculous ‘pumpkin shortage’ so i couldn’t find pie pumpkins. even the canned stuff was a lot more expensive than usual. i almost used a regular large one, but was advised against that. hopefully this year i’ll be able to find some real pie pumpkins!
Amy
Thanks! With all the pumpkin bread recipes out there this time of year, I was wanting to make some with fresh pumpkin, but I wasn’t sure how to go about preparing it… now I know!
Btw, I have a lovely cranberry chutney recipe… ;)
Laurel Alanna McBrine
I had a revelation too, many years ago, when I witnessed an acquaintance roast A WHOLE PUMPKIN in the oven and then puree the whole thing, skin, seeds and with the liquid ingredients for the filling and it was DELICIOUS! So if you are super lazy like me, don’t waste time peeling and scooping out the guts – eat the whole thing!
Jane
My grandmother used to use 1/2 pumpkin and 1/2 squash in her pies… and so do I.
Wendi
Nicely done, Karen!
sharman
As I am relatively new to this wonderfully entertaining and informative blog, I was wondering if we have ever seen pictures of said big-headed/wonderful boyfriend. Just curious…
Amy
ok, Have to put in my two cents. I have been reading up on taste buds. yes, apparently there are “tasters” and “nontasters”. Us nontasters love everything, however we don’t have a very delicate palate. We see it, we consume it. We like strong flavors. I swear I have had both canned and fresh pumpkin pie. I can’t tell a lick of difference. Sad I know. But I can eat cilantro fresh by the handful too. Raw garlic is about the only thing that is a bit too strong. And I don’t like the texture of liver, other than that, I love all food.
By the way, I can’t tell the difference in honey roasted peanut butter and regular either. I like homemade cranberry sauce but that is because I put raspberry jello in mine and make it zippy. Ok that more like five pennies instead of two cents but it was good to share.
Rose in Ohio
Thanks so much for the pictures. Now I think I can do it!
sera
Karen, don’t listen to these people that demand you make cranberry sauce. That is precisely the thing that you farm out to one of your guests. In fact, I always volunteer to make cranberry sauce, precisely because I’M NOT HOSTING! In fact I usually make some other stuff too, but again, because I don’t want to cook a damned turkey which is way more difficult and time consuming.
On the pie front, I actually prefer butternut squash pie. But you follow exactly the same instructions. go figure.
I love the pictures too!
Karen
Thank you Sera! You’ll notice that of all the people who wanted me to make my own cranberry sauce, none a single ONE of them volunteered to make it, refrigerate it and then send me the whole thing, fridge and all via Purolator by Sunday afternoon. :) ~ karen p.s. I’ve heard squash makes excellent pumpkin pie. Perhaps I’ll try it once pie pumpkins are out of season!
Janelle
Lo and behold I found sugar pumpkins at the grocery store and bought two…then learned that my mom already made pies for Thanksgiving dinner…but I’m hosting Christmas dinner. Do you think I can (1) store the pumpkins in a cool place until December (2) roast them then freeze the cooked pulp; or (3) roast them, add the other stuff and then freeze all that until Christmas? We always had pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner but obviously it always came from a can!
Karen
Hi Janelle! You have a few options. As you know! If I were you I would cook the pumpkin as I’ve stated, let it drain and then puree it. Then freeze it. When you go to use it in December, I would thaw it, re-puree it and then re-drain it. (to make sure the pulp still has a good consistency and isn’t watery. I wouldn’t bake the pie first and then freeze it. I don’t think the pumpkin puree will maintain a nice consistency and I fear the texture will get a bit grainy. I don’t think your pumpkins will last until December in a cool place. I’m not *positive* but I don’t think so. The other thing you can do is make your pie out of butternut squash. I’ve never done it, but I know that a lot of pumpkin pie recipes call for butternut squash as an alternative to pumpkin! Let’s face it … the spices are what give pumpkin pie most of it’s flavour anyway! Let me know how it all works out! – karen
Zina
8-12 weeks is about tops for a properly cured and stored pumpkin.
Liz
I’m glad you said you can make this with squash. Although we can get pumpkins over here, they tend to be the biggish ones for carving up for hallow’een.
Butternut squashes are much easier to come by. Yum yum.
CB
I’m disappointed that you’re being so adamant about the cranberry sauce, you could even use maple syrup instead of sugar…
Nina Bredell
Hi!! I have a rolling pin just like yours – scares all men…
Pam'a
Me too! But now I’m wondering where the danged thing IS. I usually cheat and buy crusts (but I make cranberry sauce for MONTHS when they’re in season…whee!)
Anna
So which pie won?
Squash is really soft too, if it’s straight from the garden, you can even peel it like a cucumber. It actually took two weeks of sitting on my counter for the acorn squash to get as hard as it does at the grocery store.
I don’t know what kind of pumpkins are growing in my garden I didn’t plant them. I’m really curious as to how they would taste in a pie, what happens if you use a halloween pumpkin for a pie? Does anybody know? Does it taste scary? Ha ha.
I make cranberry sauce, ever since I discovered how easy it is I bring it where ever I’m going and I even made it when I made turkey for Christmas two years ago. That said, I didn’t make a pie.
Sweet potato pie sounds yummy.
Turnips are growing on me. It’s taken years, still the thought of them in a pie is… I’d have to try it and be allowed to spit it out. LOL! gag.
Have you ever heard of Zucchini bread/Zucchini cake? You should try it. Yum.
Karen
Anna! I grow acorn squash too and you’re actually supposed to let it cure for a couple of weeks … so it being soft when you first pick it is normal! I HAVE had zucchini bread. And it *is* delicious. :) – karen! Oh and … click here to see which pumpkin pie won!
Paulina J!
I made this recipe over the weekend and…they LOVED it!! Now, I’m usually not a pumpkin pie kinda girl, but it was SOOOO good. It’s now in my recipe book. I didn’t have evaporated milk so I just used some heavy cream. There was no way I was going to drive 20 minutes just for evaporated milk. Thanks Karen!
Tina Poe
I send this recipe to my husband and he made it last week. It was fantastic! Now I want to have pumpkin pie all year round.
Jenna
I had to go and look at my cans of pumpkin that I had in my pantry. The main ingredient was pumpkin.
Karen
Good job! You should try the real pumpkin though. The difference is unbelievable! I was stunned! ~ karen
Liz S.
I made pumpkin pie with real pumpkins, frozen pie crust, and the maple whipped cream. I converted people who claim they hate pumpkin pie to loving pupmkin pie. Now I have to make 4 pies for Thanksgiving!
Karen
Hah! Sorry ’bout that. :) ~ karen
Deb Robins
I like most of your details on making pie with the actual Pumpkin, but cannot share it with students because of your frequent use of profanity….Clean it up
Karen
Deb – I’m not sure what made you think this particular blog was a blog for kids, but it’s not. I’m also not sure why you think I should clean it up for you. The one reader to complain about the “profanity”. I prefer to cater to the half a million who read and enjoy it. It’s a blog for like-minded adults who have a sense of humour. You know. The kind of people who aren’t offended by HBO. Sorry. There’s plenty of other blogs or you to choose from. ~ karen