My first non-canned pumpkin pie

Yesterday I bowed to my daughter’s wishes and made a pumpkin pie with real pumpkin! As opposed to the canned pumpkin that requires no peeling or boiling. I wanted to learn how, and see if there was truly any difference in taste.

We used my daughter’s pumpkin patch pumpkin, which was smaller than a basketball. I had read something about the smaller pumpkins being better for pies. Armed with a butcher knife and a cutting board, I prepared for surgery . . .

Let me tell you, cutting up a pumpkin is hard work! After cleaning out the goop and slicing off the hard exterior skin, I cut the pumpkin into chunks and boiled it. Since I needed to puree it afterwards, I boiled the life out of that puppy. Then I drained off all the water, whizzed it in the blender, and prepared to make my pie.

The recipe I used was:
Pumpkin Pie
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree
2 eggs, beaten (in retrospect, I would use 3 eggs)
1 2/3 cups heavy cream, heated

Combine sugar and spices. Add pumpkin and beaten eggs. Stir in heated cream and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees for ten minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 50-55 minutes or until the pie doesn’t wiggle when you shake it. (So scientific!) Serve cold with whipped cream.

I definitely would have used another egg. The texture wasn’t quite as custardy as I’d wanted. I’d consider tempering the mixture as well, heating the cream to almost boiling, and adding a little of the filling to the cream, then adding it back in.

The taste was very good, though I’m not sure if it was well beyond that of the regular canned pumpkin pie. The biggest difference was texture. Verdict? If you have a pumpkin and want to try it, sure! If you don’t want to bother, the canned pumpkin is just as good.

In other celebratory news, “The Viking’s Forbidden Love-Slave” hit #2 on eHarlequin’s bestseller list of all e-books!