Have you ever wondered if you can bake up a white pumpkin that you have on display in your house and make a pie with it for Thanksgiving dinner? I tried it out and am sharing my results.
I Had to Try Them in a Pie
I'm the kind of person that when I see pumpkins at the grocery store, I don't think about caving them. No, instead I ask - can I cook with it? A lot of pumpkins from the grocery store are great for baking. The Long Island Cheese pumpkin is one that I regularly find in piles of decorative pumpkins. That is one of my favorite to bake, then use for recipes.
What I had not tried before are white pumpkins. There are many white pumpkin varieties that are different in size and shape. I found two of them that are good for baking - Blanco and Casper and gave them a try myself. Learn more about them in my post - Are White Pumpkin Edible?
Both came out well. They had a more mild pumpkin flavor. I decided the best way to test to see how good they were, was to make a pumpkin pie.
I was curious most about how the flavor would be. Could I taste the difference? Also would the pie look different since I cooked it with a white pumpkin that is white inside instead of orange.
I am going to answer those questions for you and hopefully inspire you to bake a pie with a fresh white pumpkin too.
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How is a Pie Made with a White Pumpkin Different?
The flavor of white pumpkin is a little different. I find it to be a bit milder than using an orange pie pumpkin. If you think the flavor of pumpkin is too strong for your liking then giving a white pumpkin a try might be a good choice for you.
The color of the pie looks similar from the top. That is because the sugar in the filling will caramelize in the oven. Take a look at the pie before I baked it.
The filling has more of a light tan color than other pumpkin pies I have made. The pie would be an even lighter color if you used white sugar instead of brown sugar in the filling, but I simply could not imagine not using brown sugar. I want the brown sugar for the flavor. I have a flavor first mindset!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you are going to need to make this pie.
- Fresh white pumpkin puree - Look for the smaller sized white pumpkins as they are the ones more likely to be tender. They should also feel heavy for their size. Check out my post on white pumpkins to learn more about picking out a white pumpkin.
- Half and half - I just get the cheap store brand.
- Freshly grated nutmeg - Grating it yourself will always give you the best flavor.
- Ground cinnamon - Check to be sure your ground cinnamon isn't more than 6 months old.
- Ground cloves - If you don't like cloves you can skip out on them. I like to use whole cloves that I grind with a mortar and pestle.
- Dark brown sugar - The darker brown sugar has a richer flavor.
- Eggs - Just your standard large sized chicken eggs.
- Salted butter - You can use store brand butter or pick up the good stuff like Kerrygold Irish Butter.
- All-purpose flour - I prefer to use un-bleached flour because it is less processed.
- Fine salt - You will need to put some salt in the crust. It won't taste salty but if you omit, it will taste flat.
How to Make the Pumpkin Puree
If you have never cooked a pumpkin before, congrats on cooking your first one. Welcome to the club. Now let me share with you how to do it.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
- Slice off a small part of the bottom of the pumpkin to make it more stable for cutting.
- Break off the stem.
- Cut the pumpkin in half.
- Scoop out the seeds using a wide ice cream scoop. Save the seeds for roasting later.
- Place the pumpkin halves onto a sheet pan. Liberally sprinkle with kosher salt. Then turn them so the flesh side is down.
- Roast for 30 to 45 minutes or until a fork or knife can easily pierce the skin.
- Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 1 hour before removing the flesh.
- Place the pumpkin into a standard blender or food processor and blend until smooth. You also could use an immersion blender. Now your pumpkin is ready to be used in recipes.
- The puree will last about a week in the fridge. After that you should freeze it for longer storage.
Additional Tips
When you are using fresh pumpkin puree, you need to be sure it is thick enough. Canned pumpkin is already thick out of the can. I always cook my pumpkin puree for a couple minutes in a pot until it has thickened slightly. You just don't want excess water.
It is very important to not skip the steps of putting the pie crust dough into the fridge before rolling out as well as after you form the crust in the pan. You do not want the butter to melt too quickly or the dough will slump down the sides of your pie pan. You can still eat it, but it will not look as good.
The most important tip of all to follow is to make sure your pie is not overcooked. The pie should always be jiggly in the middle before you pull it out of the oven. A pie is like cookies, if it is done in the oven, it will overdone when you serve it. Check out my post on - Should a Pumpkin Pie Be Jiggly in the Middle - to learn more about the right timing for pulling a pie.
From Scratch White Pumpkin Pie
Equipment
- 9-inch pie pan
Ingredients
Filling
- 16 ounces fresh white pumpkin puree
- 1 cup half and half
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
Crust
- 8 tablespoons salted butter cold
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp fine salt
- ¼ cup ice water
Instructions
To make the crust
- Cut the cold butter into small pieces.
- In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Using your fingers rub the butter into the salted flour until it resembles a coarse meal. You could also do this in a food processor instead.
- Turn out the flour/butter onto a floured counter. Add a little bit of the ice water at a time until it is enough to bring the dough together.
- Wrap the dough in parchment paper and place into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
- Take the pie dough out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature until it is soft enough to roll out with a rolling pin.
- Roll the dough from the center outward, turning it a quarter turn every few rolls to keep it even and prevent sticking.
- Roll until the dough is about ⅛ inch thick and 2 inches wider than your pie pan. Gently roll the dough around your rolling pin to help lift it without tearing.
- Unroll it carefully over your pie pan, letting it fall naturally into the corners rather than stretching it - stretching can cause it to shrink while baking. Press the dough lightly against the bottom and sides of the pan to remove any air pockets.
- Trim the overhang to about 1 inch beyond the rim of the pan, then fold the edge under itself to create a thicker rim. Crimp or flute the edges with your fingers or a fork for a decorative look.
To make the filling
- Add the pumpkin puree to a medium saucepan.
- Bring to a simmer. Cook the pumpkin until slightly thickened. Should only take a couple minutes.
- Add half and half, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolk, and brown sugar. Beat with a whisk until smooth.
- Add the pumpkin mixture from the saucepan to the mixing bowl. Whisk until completely combined.
- When the dough is rolled out enough to fit the pie pan, place the dough into the pie pan. Place back in the fridge to harden for 15 minutes.
Cooking the pie
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the pumpkin filling to the pie crust. Make sure to leave room at the top. You may have extra, I always do.
- Place the pie onto a sheet pan to make it easier to remove and to catch anything that might spill.
- Bake in the oven until the center is slightly jiggly. This should take about 45 to 50 minutes. I would check on progress at the 30 minute mark.
- Allow the pie to cool before serving. Let it rest for 2-3 hours is best to allow pie filling to properly set up.
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