Pumpkin Pie Season

[ermingarden]

In the past two(ish) weeks, I've made eight pumpkin pies. This is intimately related to the fact that I have slightly less than a month before the start of exams. Hooray for stress baking! At least my roommates are reaping the benefits.

Baking – as well as crochet, which I've also been doing a decent amount of – is really good for my mental health. Law school is largely intangible: You spend your time studying, and what you have to show for it is...an interior sense that you understand an abstract concept better. Or you work on a paper, and then you've produced...some words on a computer screen. But you spend time baking, and at the end of it you have a pie! It's right there, and you made it!

I usually make my own crust when I bake pies, but I've been taking the lazy student route and using store-bought frozen crusts. The filling is just your standard pumpkin pie recipe:

For one pie:
- 1 can pumpkin (Edit: If you're interested in trying using fresh pumpkin, see atamascolily's comment below!)
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- about 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves (You can also substitute allspice for cloves, or use whatever other spices you prefer.)

Mix well, pour into crust, and bake for 15 minutes at 425°F (220°C), then reduce heat to 350°F (175°C) and bake an additional 35-40 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of the pie comes out (mostly) clean.

(When using a homemade crust, you'll have to blind bake your crust before pouring in the pumpkin filling.)

Comments

[atamascolily]

There's nothing wrong with using canned pumpkin in a recipe, but as someone who works almost exclusively with fresh, I'll say that it makes a huge difference which kind of orange squash you use in your recipe."Pumpkin" isn't a singular species, but a generic name for anything vaguely round and orange-like, and some species are better than others for baking.

Most so-called "pumpkins" (aka Curcubita pepo) are terrible for eating, especially the classic jack-o-lantern types, which are bred for looks, not taste. The one exception are the pie pumpkins, which are generally smaller and rounder, and will generally have "pie" in their variety name ("New England Pie", "Sugar Pie", etc.) There's also "Winter Luxury", which is pumpkin shaped with white netted veins across the skin that makes for a gorgeous pie and is my favorite of the hard-skinned pepos for eating--deep, velvety and rich.

Canned "pumpkin" is actually Blue Hubbard squash (C. maxima), which is big, blue, and round with a hard shell. Just about all of the maximas are good for pie and baked goods--they are moist and dense and thick and rich and flavorful, without the stringiness inherent to the non-pie pepos, and they come in a wide variety of shapes and colors, although very few are actually orange or pumpkin-shaped.

In my region, maximas don't do well, so I mostly grow C. moschata, which includes butternuts and "Seminole pumpkins" (like butternuts, but pumpkin-shaped) which are resistant to squash vine borers and most of the major squash diseases. There are a lot of different moschata types, some of which are better for pie than others, but they all have a generally good flavor and texture--different from the maximas, but still very good. I really like the "cheese pumpkins" ("Long Island Cheese"), which can get huge. I also like moschatas because if they're handled carefully and properly cured, they'll keep for a year or more at room temperature, so I generally spend the winter with squash draped over every possible surface as I gradually consume them over time.

I usually cut the squash into pieces, scoop out the seeds, roast it in the oven with the skin on until soft, then scrape the cooked flesh and freeze it in portioned chunks for later use. I don't think of it as that much work, but I've been doing it for so long it just feels normal now. I also cheat and make pumpkin custard a lot, so I don't have to bother with the crust.

I'm glad you've been enjoying your baking and good luck with your exams!

[ermingarden]

You know, I'm going to edit the original post, because I'm in actual awe – I've never met anyone before you who's made pumpkin pie with fresh pumpkin and had it come out anything other than stringy and/or watery. Tipping my metaphorical hat to you! (I've never tried it myself, and it's very possible my friends were using the Wrong Pumpkins.) You might actually have inspired me to give fresh a try one of these days....

[pauraque]

I'll add to this, the same kinds of squashes that make great pies are also great for soup! (If you like squash soup, as I do.)

[ermingarden]

Yum! I do like squash soup, though I've never made it myself.

[atamascolily]

It's all about getting the right pumpkin for sure!! I am experienced enough that I can usually tell at a glance whether a given squash will make good pie or not, but there is definitely a learning curve.

You can also get around the watery problem by squeezing the liquid out of the squash flesh before you freeze it (I do this with some of my moschatas because they are very juicy!), or by tweaking the recipe to accommodate them--basically, you need more thickener to hold it together. Custard is more forgiving in this realm that the classic pie because you don't have to worry about it staying in the crust; it takes the shape of its container.

[independence1776]

Having a tangible product at the end makes such a difference.

[chestnut_pod]

Oh my gosh, eight pies!! You are truly the person in the word problem.

[ermingarden]

I am the person your math textbook warned you about!

(Well, not quite – I didn't make eight all at once! I've been making one or two every few days.)

[shirebound]

Your kitchen must smell so delicious!