The Perfect Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe for Your Holiday Table | Foodal (2024)

FAQs

Why is it important to let the filling sit overnight before baking pumpkin pie? ›

For better pumpkin pie, refrigerate the filling overnight

To that end, we've found that refrigerating pumpkin pie filling overnight before using it not only enhances the spices' flavors, but also mellows them. Any “sharp edges” disappear, and you're left with a smooth meld of complementary flavors.

They are the same product. Both canned pumpkin puree and pie filling are useful, shelf-stable ingredients that can help speed up your kitchen prep time. Just remember that puree is unsweetened, while pie filling contains sugar and spices. This will help you choose the right pumpkin product for your recipes.

If you're seeking an alternative for pumpkin pie, look no further than butternut squash – you'll likely never go back.

Store-bought or homemade, turn any pumpkin pie into a work of art! What is this? Finish the baked pie with with a cinnamon whipped cream flower, toasted meringue, or cut-out pie crust leaves. Not only do they look amazing, but they taste delicious too!

Often, blind-baking solves this problem. If you're making a single crust custard-filled pie, like a pumpkin pie, bake the pie dough first before adding filling to allow some of the moisture in the crust to evaporate. You can also totally blind-bake fruit pies.

Too many pumpkin pies have soggy crusts that never fully brown. To avoid this, recipes often call for blind baking your crust. That is, baking the empty crust before the filling is added. This gives the crust time to firm up and brown, time it typically doesn't get if the faster cooking filling is added first.

If you meant to purchase pumpkin pie filling but accidentally grabbed a can of plain pumpkin, it's easy to sweeten and season the puree. Follow a good pumpkin pie recipe (there's usually a recipe printed right on the label) and add sugar and spices to the puree along with other ingredients like eggs before baking.

Most canned pumpkin is pureed pumpkin. It's been cooked and canned, but you'd have to cook it anyways to make it soft enough to puree. As long as you get plain canned pumpkin without added seasonings, it's the same as what you would make at home.

Don't use pumpkin pie filling in place of pumpkin purée.

Every can of pumpkin pie filling has a different amount of sugar and spices and if you add it to a bread or muffin recipe you might get a very sweet and not-spiced-enough loaf. Try this instead: Buy pumpkin purée!

If you don't have ground cinnamon, you can use ginger or allspice in place of pumpkin pie spice. Just use half of the amount called for since ginger and allspice have stronger flavors than cinnamon.

Can I use cinnamon instead of pumpkin pie spice? ›

Because pumpkin pie spice is a blend, the short answer is no. Even though cinnamon is the base, your recipe will not taste the same using just one spice in place of the blend.

The pie is generally flavored with pumpkin pie spice, a blend that includes cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves or allspice. The pie is usually prepared with canned pumpkin, but fresh-cooked pumpkin can be used.

For even more flavor, you can add spices (like the celebrated pumpkin pie spice!) to the purée during the cooking step. Heating spices “blooms” them, releasing their flavorful, fragrant oils.

If the recipe doesn't use enough spice, or if the spices were old enough to have lost much of their flavour, or if the mixture isn't well balanced, then the pie is not going to taste right and could be quite bland.

The Filling Gets Darker and Slightly Puffed

As you reach the suggested baking time for your recipe, the filling should deepen in color and puff up a bit. There may be a little cracking around the edge where the filling meets the crust (or where you inserted a knife to test for doneness).

How Far in Advance Can You Make Pumpkin Pie? Pumpkin pie is a great make-ahead dessert to cross off your Thanksgiving to-do list. You can prepare and bake the pie up to two days in advance, and it will still taste great on the big day.

CAN I PREPARE PUMPKIN PIE IN ADVANCE AND FREEZE IT? You can make the filling and pie shell ahead of time and freeze each separately for up to one month.

Let the pumpkin pie cool at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Once the pumpkin pie is cool to the touch, loosely wrap it in plastic wrap. Place the pumpkin pie in the refrigerator and store it there for up to 4 days.

Or you can make the crust dough ahead, wrap, and chill or freeze. Or roll it out, stick it in its pie pan, and freeze or chill. And you can definitely make the filling up to 4 or 5 days ahead, and stash it in the fridge; or even farther ahead, and freeze it.