Pumpkin Pie

 How to Make Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Starting from Scratch with a Whole Pumpkin

    I’ve always been into baking, from simple cookies to Scottish scones, I’ve made it all. Recently, I’ve wanted to make a pumpkin pie, so I did. But this was not the ordinary pumpkin pie made from a can of Libby's pumpkin. I believe everything's better when you can make it fresh, so the adventure started with a freshly picked pumpkin. Being a gardener, my first thought was, “once I roast the pumpkin I can collect and dry the seeds to grow next year!” so instead of throwing away the seeds I saved them for planting.

    I was concerned about how the pie would taste because the recipe I used didn’t call for Pumpkin pie spice, all it called for was cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves. Whats more is I couldn’t find the ground cloves in our vast array of spices. So I had to just use cinnamon and ginger. In the end though, the pie still tasted like pumpkin pie, to be honest you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

    Another concern I had was that the pie would be watery. Why is that? When you look at canned pumpkin, it looks congealed, but after pureeing the roasted pumpkin, it was very liquid like. After baking it for the time the recipe said to, I had to keep it in for another 25 minutes. Problem solved!

    The hard part about making any pie is rolling out the pie crust. I’ve found that you have to make the crust before you make the filling, that goes for any pie. Before starting the filling, put the dough in a bowl in the freezer, it will make your life many times easier when you roll it out.

    In the end, it was the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever had, maybe because when you work hard on something it always tastes better than the easy way. I enjoyed making it, so much so that the next day I made two more, and gave one to my neighbors. 

Finished pie

Finished pie

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Pie Recipe courtesy Taste of Home:

 

Total time: Prep: 30 min+ Baking 55 min

• Dough for single-crust pie
• 1 medium pie pumpkin
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup 2% milk
• Whipped cream, optional 

 

Directions

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
2. Cut pumpkin in half lengthwise; discard seeds. Place cut side down in a microwave-safe dish; add 1 in. of water. Cover and microwave on high until very tender, 15-18 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 425°. Drain pumpkin. When cool enough to handle, scoop out pulp and mash. Set aside 1-3/4 cups (save remaining pumpkin for another use). In large bowl, combine mashed pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves; beat until smooth. Gradually beat in milk. Pour into crust.
4. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 350°; bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 40-50 minutes longer. Cover edge loosely with foil during the last 30 minutes if needed to prevent over
   
   browning. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack. If desired, serve with whipped cream. Refrigerate leftovers.

 
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