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Pumpkin Pie (To large cups of stewed)
To 2 large cups of stewed pumpkin add 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of honey, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, a scant teaspoon of vanilla, a pinch of salt, a very little (about an 1/8 of a teaspoon) cloves and ginger, 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 cups of rich milk.
This makes 2 large pies or 3 smal ones.
A custard filling only — the book assumes you have pastry already rolled and a hot oven waiting. Two points do most of the work: the pumpkin must be dry, and the custard must not be overbaked.
- Drain the pumpkin"Stewed pumpkin" means fresh pumpkin cooked soft and mashed, which carries far more water than canned purée. Drain it in a sieve or cook it down in a dry pan until it holds a shape on the spoon, or the pies will weep. Two large cups is in the region of a 15 oz can if you substitute, though the older measure is loose.
- Rich milkWhole milk at minimum; unskimmed farm milk of the period was richer than today's standardised whole milk. Using half milk and half cream gives the texture the recipe expects.
- No temperature is givenBake at 425F for the first 15 minutes to set the crust, then drop to 350F for another 35 to 45 minutes. Honey browns faster than sugar alone, so watch the surface and tent it with foil if it darkens early.
- Know when it is doneThe filling should be set at the edges with a two-inch circle at the center that still moves as a unit when the pan is nudged. Custard continues to cook out of the oven; baking until the center is firm gives a cracked, watery pie.
- The tablespoon of flourInsurance, not structure — the two eggs do the setting. It helps a wet pumpkin hold together, but whisk it into the sugar first so it does not lump in the milk.
- Quantity and pansThe filling comes to about five cups, enough for two 9-inch shells filled generously or three 8-inch. Do not try to force it into a single pie; a deep custard will not set evenly.
- CoolingCool completely on a rack before slicing, then refrigerate if not eaten the same day. This is an egg-and-milk custard and does not keep at room temperature overnight.
Pumpkin custard baked in pastry is often said to be among the oldest continuously made American sweets, descended from seventeenth-century English "pompion" pies and firmly attached to Thanksgiving by the mid-nineteenth century. What places this version in the honey chapter rather than among the pies is the half cup of honey standing in for half the sugar. Honey also holds moisture and browns readily, which is why this filling sets a little softer and colors a little deeper than an all-sugar one. The book's brisk assumption that the reader owns pastry, knows her oven, and can judge a set custard by eye tells you something about who it was written for.