How to Make a Pumpkin Pie from a Real Pumpkin

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How To Make Pumpkin Pie With Fresh Pumpkin

Making a pumpkin pie with a fresh pumpkin may sound intimidating, but it's actually quite easy and the taste is worth the effort. If you've never had pumpkin pie with fresh pumpkin before, you're in for a treat. You'll never want to go back to canned pumpkin puree again!

This page will help you with all the steps to bake delicious pumpkin pies made from real pumpkins, from finding a fresh sugar pumpkin to preparing fresh pumpkin puree. Of course I've included some delicious fresh pumpkin pie recipes. In no time, you'll be well on your way to making pumpkin pie the old fashioned way.

Please feel free to leave some feedback and let me know if this lens has been helpful to you, if you have any recipes to share, or any other thoughts you have! Some of my other lenses include information about guinea pig care and Halloween cupcakes. Thanks so much and happy baking! 

Where to find a fresh pumpkin

there are more options than the grocery store.

You may feel like you're inundated with pumpkins around Halloween time, but sometimes the day you're looking to find one, you can't! You may go into your local grocery store, stare at a display of nuts and Christmas candies and say "They were right there a week ago!"

Some great places to find a fresh pumpkin are local farm stands, orchards or farmers' markets. It's always a good idea to buy from local farmers because you're getting high quality produce as well as supporting the livelihood of small, family-run farms. Doesn't that make you feel good?

This handy website actually offers a tool where you can type in your state or zip code and find out where all of the local pumpkin patches/stands that carry pumpkins are.

Using real pumpkin instead of canned - worth the effort

With pumpkin pies, as with many things in life, sometimes the extra time and effort really makes it worth it. You may find that you're so used to the canned pumpkin flavor, you might be scared to try fresh pumpkin pie, but trust me, it's worth it! You'll actually be able to taste the pumpkin without feeling like you're eating veggies. It just has that much more of a natural, delicious flavor that you just can't achieve through canned pumpkin preserves.

When buying a pumpkin, try to find "sugar pumpkins" instead of the huge jack-o-lantern kind. It will just be more fibrous the bigger it is, but they're all a tasty alternative to canned pumpkin preserves.

Pumpkin Pie Making Essentials

Don't Waste Fresh Pumpkin On A Bad Pie

Make your fresh pumpkin pie a showstopper with these tools of the trade.
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My Favorite Fresh Pumpkin Pie Recipe

This is so delicious. I use this recipe every time I make a pumpkin pie now!

The Best of Amish Cooking Cookbook

Here it is, as promised! The pumpkin pie recipe (and carrot cake recipe and many more) in this cookbook is really wonderful and surprisingly simple. If you're interested in a collection of wholesome, natural and deliciously comforting recipes I highly recommend this cookbook.

The Best of Amish Cooking

Amazon Price: $10.49 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now
List Price: $15.95

Knowing these are tried and true for generations just makes everything taste better, at least to me. : )

Pumpkin Cookbooks

You can of course substitute real pumpkin for pumpkin puree in any pumpkin recipe, but these cookbooks will provide you with loads of ideas, from pumpkin bread to pumpkin soup, pumpkin cookies and cakes, and probably a bunch of things you've never even thought of.
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Everything You Need For Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Make a fresh pumpkin pie using some of these supplies!

Make sure your fresh pumpkin pie is the best it can be with these special 'ingredients'.
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The history of the pumpkin pie

Pumpkin pie before there were canned goods.

No wonder pumpkin pie makes us think of Thanksgiving! Some early variations of pumpkin pie were reported right around the time of the settlers at Plimoth Plantation in the early 1620s.

By 1670, a version of a pumpkin torte became known as "Pompion Pie" was making its mark in England, which involved fried pumpkin slices with eggs and herbs, butter, raisins, currans, and sugar layered over tart apples in a pie. Sounds pretty good to me! (though I'm not a huge fan of raisins.)

It wouldn't be until over a century later in 1796 when an American cookbook was published containing a recipe most closely resembling the pumpkin pie that we know and love today, with a spiced pumpkin custard baked in a crust.

Many thanks to Linda Stradley ofa>

Fresh Pumpkin Recipes - bread, cheesecake, soup, and more

I've scoured the 'net and hand picked some recipes that looked really good to me that I thought you might enjoy.
Baking with Fresh Pumpkin from Allrecipes.com
How to prepare a raw pumpkin for baking and cooking.
Baking with Fresh Pumpkin
Recipes and tips for baking with fresh pumpkin.
Fresh Pumpkin Puree for Recipes: Pumpkin Puree Doesn't Just Come in a Can. Make Your Own Fresh Pumpkin Base with this Simple Recipe.
Make fresh pumpkin puree with this recipe and tips.
Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage and Toasted Hazelnuts : Food Network
Move over, Chef Boyardee!
Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake : Food Network
It's probably best not to think about the calories in this one : )
Pumpkin Bread : Food Network
Of course I had to include something from my Food Network hero - Alton Brown.

Make a Fresh Pumpkin Pie on YouTube!

in case you learn better by watching.

YouTube is a great place to find tutorials for cooking! Check out the video featuring how to make a pumpkin pie out of real pumpkin below! (sadly I can't take credit for making it.)
Pumpkin Pie
by agarange | video info

88 ratings | 80,969 views
curated content from YouTube

Let's hear it!

Got a great pumpkin pie recipe you swear by? Have a special story about pie baking or pumpkins, or just want to share your thoughts about anything? Please don't hesitate to leave a comment!

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Other Pumpkin Pie Resources on the Web

Here are some links for other sites featuring pumpkin pie information and recipes.
Food.com Pumpkin Pie Recipes
Pumpkin pie recipes from food.com, the official website of The Food Network.
Pumpkin Pie from AllRecipes.com
Check out one of my very favorite food sites, allrecipes.com, for some great user-generated recipes for anything you could think of!...oh yeah, and pumpkin pie, of course.
LocalHarvest Pumpkin Search!
Find your closest pumpkin grower/seller! This website has some great information about pumpkins, other foods and more.
Pumpkin Patch - Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Pumpkins!
A website chock full of information about everything pumpkin!

by

southpaw23

Hi everyone, I'm Lesley! I love to cook and bake, and I also create pet portraits at Southpaw Gallery. I'm also a copywriter and social media consultant... more »

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