But here is where the tides turn - you too can conquer the pumpkin! I was afraid I might fail at it.. or that I wouldn't be strong enough to cut it in half... but if you follow these simple steps, you'll find that making a delicious homemade pie from scratch is not so scary. And it is totally worth it when you tell people, "Yeah, I made it from scratch... like from a real pumpkin."
Oh yes.
Okay, now onto the serious stuff.
It is best to start with what is called a "sugar pumpkin" or "baking pumpkin." These pumpkins are smaller than most decorative pumpkins, and are bred to be sweeter in taste. However, you can use any pumpkin you'd like to make your own pumpkin puree!
After you've got the pumpkin...
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350.
2. Once preheated, pop that whole pumpkin in the oven. I put it on top of a cookie sheet. Let the pumpkin sit in the oven about 20 minutes.
After about 20 minutes has passed, you will notice that the pumpkin has turned a deeper orange color.
3. Take the pumpkin out of the oven, but leave the oven on at 350 degrees! We will be using it again soon.
4. Pop the stem off the top of the pumpkin by taking a strong knife (I used a butter knife), slightly dig the tip of the knife under the stem, and then apply pressure to the opposite end of the knife. The stem should pop off fairly easily.
4. You'll notice that the pumpkin has become softer after being in the oven. Take a sharp knife (I used a turkey carving knife) and starting at the top where you just removed the stem, slice the pumpkin in half. It's not too difficult now that the pumpkin is nice and soft.
5. This is probably the most time consuming part. Take a spoon (or ice cream scoop!) and scoop out all of the stringy stuff and seeds. Set that aside so that you can toast the seeds later for a yummy snack!
6. After scooping out seeds and stringy parts, cut the pumpkin in quarters.
7. Place the quarters on top of foil on top of a rimmed cookie sheet.
8. Pour a cup of water onto the baking sheet. This helps keep the pumpkin nice and moist while baking.
9. Place the cookie sheet in the 350 degree oven. Bake for 45 minutes. This is what my pumpkin looked like when I took it out. You will know the pumpkin is ready when a fork can be inserted into the skin of the pumpkin and the fork easily slides in a pierces the flesh.
10. After letting the pumpkin cool for about 10 minutes or so, take the spoon (or ice cream scoop) and scoop out the pumpkin meat. All that will be left are pumpkin skins!
11. You can try mushing/mixing the pumpkin meat with a spoon, but I recommend putting it in a food processor or blender. I put the pumpkin in the blender until the consistency was a nice and smooth puree.
Now you have fresh pumpkin puree, ready to go for you fall dessert exploits! You can use it immediately (which I recommend), or you can store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to a year! The small pumpkin pictured in this post made about 3 cups of puree.
After all the "hard work" is over, now you can make whatever you would like with your pumpkin! I decided to make a Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake.
This cheesecake is based off the recipe found here:
I slightly changed the recipe, and loved the results! Here is the recipe I used:
Ingredients
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) prepared shortbread crust
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Whipped cream, to serve on top/on the side.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1.5 cups of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.
On the right is my pure-cheesecake layer. On the left is my yummy pumpkin-cheesecake batter.
The final result!
Oh, and for my fellow friends at high altitude - this pumpkin cheesecake was made in Denver and it turned out great!
The cheesecake tasted marvelous. If I were serving it for a fancy occasion, I bet it would be amazing with some caramel sauce drizzled on the top.
By the way, this pie tastes better and better as it ages. (It only lasted a week, but I felt the flavors became more and more pronounced with each day.)
Oh, and don't forget those pumpkin seeds! I used a cinnamon-sugar recipe to toast my seeds. I added a dash of cayenne for some kick.
I used the pumpkin seed recipe found here:
Good luck, and have fun!!
This looks really good!
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