Pumpkin Pie

[emma_in_dream]

So, North Americans and pumpkin experts, how does one make pumpkin pie? Specifically, can I just substitute boiled, mashed pumpkin for the canned pumpkin that the recipes seem to call for. I have never, in my life, seen a can of pumpkin in the shops.

Comments

[fred_mouse]

Simple answer: yes.

Longer answer: any pumpkin you can mash works -leftover roast, etc. if you make more filling than will fit in your pie shell, cook on stove top as per custard sauce, and then either use it as is or turn into ice-cream

Also we usually use butternut, even though the north Americans call it a squash, rather than a pumpkin.

[emma_in_dream]

Good, I like butternut better anyway.

Thanks you, pumpkin expert.

[thefourthvine]

Yes, with the caveat that some varieties of pumpkin will first need to be drained. You want your pumpkin glop to be VERY THICK. If it is at all liquidy, you will have problems.

[fred_mouse]

Why very thick? I'm trying to remember what it is that we do, but I know that we add quite a lot of liquid to the pumpkin, so when it goes in the shell it is somewhat runny.

[thefourthvine]

Yup, totally! I mean, you add eggs and stuff to make the pie mixture runnier before you put into the oven - but the eggs and so on will solidify so that it all ends up the right texture. If there's too much water in your glop, as often there is if you're using a standard US pie pumpkin, the mixture never gets appropriately solid-ish in the oven, and often the bottom crust will be soggy because of excess water.

I actually think pies generally taste better if the glop is drained, because the flavor will intensify, which is awesome. So I do it even if I don't think I need to. (And when I'm making pumpkin cheesecake, I take it one step further and press out a ton more liquid, so that there's lots of pumpkin flavor but no runniness.)

[emma_in_dream]

Is canned pumpkin very thick? Is it sugared?

Also, I just realised that the pumpkin pie link may be why Americans use 'pumpkin' as an endearment. It always seemed random to me, like 'turnip' or 'carrot'.

[thefourthvine]

It is my understanding that in Australia, pumpkin is a vegetable. In the US, pumpkin is a sweet. Pumpkin goes in pies and super-sweet pumpkin lattes and sweet pumpkin bread and sweet pumpkin muffins. It is kind of shocking to the US mind to consider eating it like a vegetable.

Canned pumpkin in the US is not sweetened (you can get premixed pumpkin pie filling that is, but - why?) and is very thick. It cannot be poured from the can, it must be scooped. It's kind of like mashed potatoes in consistency, I guess.

Would you like me to send you a can, so you can see what it's like? It's in stores right now! I could throw it in with other US foods or treats, if there are any you would like.

[emma_in_dream]

Would you like me to send you a can, so you can see what it's like? It's in stores right now! I could throw it in with other US foods or treats, if there are any you would like.

If it isn't fiendishly expensive to post, then, yes, I would love to have the real American experience.

[thefourthvine]

Shouldn't be crazy expensive. Anything else you or Pearl or Ruby might like from the US? I know you have most of our foods (unlike, say, Finland, which was the last place I sent a US food parcel to), but if there's anything else you're curious about, now is the time to say!

Also, could you PM me your address? I'll pick up your pumpkin when I go shopping this week, and that way I will be ready.

[lauredhel]

The trick is to add site:.au to your recipe searches. I find that taste.com.au recipes tend to be pretty good (most of the time), and bestrecipes.com.au is another place to look.

And yep - just butternut, halved, roasted in the skin and then scooped out. Some recipes say to boil or steam - but if you that that, it will be more watery, and it won't develop the lovely roasted taste.