Follow easy step-by-step, instructions for making our Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie recipe, from scratch. We’re using fresh pumpkin, and a homemade pie crust for this slightly sweet dessert. A little Ground Ginger is the only spice ingredient in our pie, so you can enjoy the fresh taste of pumpkin in every bite.
Pumpkin Pie Recipe, made from scratch, including fresh pumpkin.
I recently posted a recipe for Sweet Potato Pie here on Taste of Southern, and asked whether you thought they both tasted alike or not. I’ve always felt like they did… until I baked this one. So, what makes it different? I think it’s the fact that the only spice ingredient we’re using is Ginger. It’s from an old recipe and a time when things were much simpler. Years back, Grandma, or even my mom, didn’t have all of the spices and things that fill our cabinets today. Either they weren’t readily available, or mostly, they just couldn’t afford to purchase them. If they weren’t able to grow it, they just did without.
Today, you’ll find most Sweet Potato and/or Pumpkin Pie recipes filled with a variety of spices, and I think that’s one thing that gives that sameness in taste. I could be wrong though, I’ve been wrong before… sometimes. Why, you can even buy Pumpkin Pie Spice in the store these days. I saw it, I looked at it, I consider buying it. But, I already have Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg and Allspice, so why did I need it? I decided I didn’t.
As for the pumpkin, you can buy that already in a can, ready to pour into a pie crust and bake it. A ready made pie crust… from the store… on top of that. What would our Great Grandparents think about all that? Why they’d be “turning over in their…,” well, never mind, I’m just over exaggerating the whole point.
I really like this Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie Recipe and I hope that you will too. If you try it that is.
A few days ago, my brother and I stopped at the Farmers Market over in Greensboro to do a little browsing. It was windy, getting cooler, and raining. There were only a few vendors on the outside, but we headed inside where the weather was a bit better. Several places had pumpkins and I looked at the Sugar Pumpkins really good before deciding on this Cheese Pumpkin. It’s called that because of its name and not because it has any cheese type of flavor. It’s suppose to look like a “wheel” of cheese in shape. After a few days of seeing it sit on the kitchen counter, I finally broke down last night and baked a pie.
Baking Pumpkin Pie from scratch is pretty easy. Yes, it takes a few more steps and a little more time to complete, but you’ll always be able to say, “I made it myself.” I’m sure it will be the hit of the dessert table for your Thanksgiving Dinner Menu, or any other time you decide to make it. You might even rush back out and buy a few more pumpkins so you can freeze the filling for use later in the year when we can’t find fresh pumpkins. It’s a thought.
Just be careful cutting the pumpkin. This one was plenty tough but I came through it without any damages. It takes about 30 minutes to bake the pumpkin before you can scrape it out and start building your pie. As for the pie crust, I’ve got a Basic Pie Crust Recipe that you could even make ahead of time and have ready when you start working on your pie.
So, if you’re all set to bake Pumpkin Pie from scratch, Let’s Get Cooking!
Pumpkin Pie: You’ll need these ingredients.
We’re using our homemade Basic Pie Crust recipe to make our crust. You could certainly use a prepared crust if you would like, but we hope you’ll go all out and make this one with us from scratch. I’m using a Cheese Pumpkin, but a good Sugar Pumpkin would be about the same. They call it a Cheese Pumpkin because of it’s shape, it’s suppose to look similar to a wheel of cheese.
Let’s begin by giving the Pumpkin a quick rinse under some cold running water. Remove any dirt, and of course all those hand prints from where it’s been handled so much along the way.
Pat it dry with a couple of folded paper towels.
BE VERY CAREFUL: You’ll need a large, sharp knife, to cut the pumpkin in half. I just put the camera down so as not to risk any finger loss or damage on this one. Pumpkins are pretty tough to cut, and you just need to be very careful when cutting it.
You should consider saving the seeds. They can be toasted in the oven later, or maybe you can grow your own pumpkin next year.
I think you’ll find it easier to separate the seeds from the stringy pulp if you’ll remove the seeds first. Just reach in and slide the seeds out with your fingers. It will take a little work, but I find this way easier than just digging everything out at once and trying to separate the seeds later. The seeds are attached to the pulp and the pulp stays inside while the seeds come out pretty clean.
Dig deep and get out as many seeds as possible.
Place the seeds in a small bowl and just set them aside for now. Later, you can rinse them off in a colander to remove any remaining pulp that might be on them. They came out pretty clean though… don’t you think?
Take a large spoon and start scraping out the remaining pulp. You should be able to tell where the stringy pulp ends and the meat of the pumpkin begins pretty easily. Clean it out good.
Here’s one half, all cleaned and ready for the oven.
You’ll probably feel like you’ve scraped away half of the pumpkin, and you’d be about right. This is what I had after cleaning out both halves of my cheese pumpkin.
It’s just a bunch of stringy stuff that you don’t want in your pie. Just discard it.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spray or rub a thin coat of oil over the surface.
Place the two halves, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Place these in the oven and bake at 400º for 35-40 minutes or until fork tender.
Bake the pumpkin until the skin pierces easily with a fork.
When its done, you should be able to easily poke a fork through the outer skin. Remove it from the oven and let it cool.
When the pumpkin has cooled enough to where you can handle it, grab a spoon and scoop out the insides.
Scoop out just the good stuff. Get as much as you can, but don’t scrape the lighter looking layer right next to the skin.
This is what I had left after scraping out both halves. Is it enough?
Depending on the size of your pumpkin, you may get more or less than you actually need to make the pie. Mine just happened to measure out almost exactly at two cups. If you have leftovers, freeze it for use later.
Place the pumpkin back in a large mixing bowl. If you have one, a potato masher works great to mash up the pumpkin. A fork will also work, so use what you have available. Just mash it up really good. You could certainly put it in a food processor and puree it, but why mess up something else you’re just going to have to wash later? Keep it rustic.
Add the Granulated Sugar.
Add the Evaporated Milk.
Add the Salt.
Add the Ground Ginger.
Add the melted butter.
Stir this up really well. You might also want to taste it at this point. You could add a bit more sugar, or ginger, if you thought it needed it. Just go easy, the flavors haven’t fully melded together yet.
Crack open the two eggs into a small bowl. It’s best to crack the eggs into a separate bowl so you can be certain none of the egg shell falls into your filling.
Slightly beat the eggs with a fork.
Add the eggs into the filling mixture.
Stir this up really good and make sure you’ve worked the eggs and butter into the filling. Don’t worry if you have a few lumps in the filling. This just makes it that more “old fashioned.” It’ll come out fine once it’s baked. Set this aside while you get the pie crust ready.
Be sure to butter up your pie plate really good before you add the dough. You wouldn’t like to know what happens if you forget to do this.
Prepare your crust for the filling. You can always follow our step-by-step recipe for making a Basic Pie Crust by clicking: HERE
I sprinkled just a bit of extra flour inside the crust before adding the filling. It’s a good idea to place the pie pan on a baking sheet while it’s in the oven. In case anything were to bubble over, it stays in the pan and doesn’t end up on the bottom of your oven.
Place your oven rack on it’s lowest level for pie baking. Pull the rack out a bit and then sit the baking sheet and crust on the rack. It will be easier to pour the filling into the pie plate this way and you will not have to worry about spilling the pie as you move it from your counter to the oven.
I needed the picture, so I’m doing it the hard way… on the counter top. Just pour the filling into the prepared crust.
I used ALL of the filling I had made, and filled it up right to the lip on the crust.
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS STEP: Start the pie out at 400ºF and let it bake ONLY at this temperature for 10 minutes. Then, REDUCE the heat back to 350ºF and let the pie bake another 35-40 minutes, or until done.
Test the pie to be sure it’s done by inserting a wooden toothpick into the center of the pie. If the toothpick pulls out dry and clean, the pie is done. If you see some crumbs sticking to the toothpick, or if it appears to still be wet, bake the pie a few minutes longer.
If the edges of the pie are getting too brown, you can fold a couple of pieces of aluminum foil around the edges to prevent the crust from burning.
When the pie is done, remove it from the oven and sit it on a wire rack or folded towel to cool.
Enjoy!
You’ll enjoy this better if you can let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. Serve it cool with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
