Of the many styles of fruits out there, pumpkins are among my favorite. For those of you about to argue that pumpkins are not fruits, don’t. My love for pumpkin and everything related to it did not really take root until my tenth grade year after someone made the awful decision to buy a pumpkin pie from Wal-Mart. I think a piece of me died when I took that first bite. At the time, however, I was starving and just smothered it in whipped cream. That pumpkin pie was heresy to all baked goods. So, I decided that I would start a small business where I would make pumpkin pies and cheesecakes. I ran the business during that holiday season and made over 200 pumpkin pies and 100 pumpkin cheesecakes. From that day on, my family never bought another pumpkin pie from the store and I was completely enthralled with everything pumpkin. So, to put it simply, do not, under any circumstances, buy a pumpkin pie from Wal-Mart. You will probably regret it. Now, if you have not figured it out by this point, I will be sharing my pumpkin pie recipe. So, let’s begin…Ingredients:
Pumpkin Puree
· 1 baking pumpkin
· 1 stick butter
Pie
· ¾ cup sugar
· 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1/3 teaspoon ground cloves
· ½ teaspoon ground ginger
· ½ teaspoon salt
· 2 large eggs
· 2 cups pumpkin puree (or you can cheat and use 1 15-ounce canned pumpkin)
· 1 can 12 fluid ounces evaporated milk
· 1 unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie shell
· Whipped cream (optional)
Directions:
Begin by preparing your pumpkin puree (if you are using canned pumpkin you may skip this step.) Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Take your pumpkin and thoroughly clean the outside. Remove the stem, the seeds and the fiber from the pumpkin. Now, cut your pumpkin into halves and place onto a baking sheet, insides facing up. Cut your butter in half and place each half into its own pumpkin half. Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife can easily be inserted and removed from the pumpkin. Remove from oven and let cool for 1 hour. Once cooled, remove the skin and then place the halves into a food processor. Process the pumpkin until smooth. Now, onto the pie.
Heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, sift together the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the eggs together. Stir the pumpkin puree into the bowl. Now, add your sugar-spice mixture, mixing thoroughly. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk. Now, pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 425 degrees Farenheit, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for an additional 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool. At this point, your pie is complete.
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Stay Sassy.
