Pumpkin Pie Baked in a Pumpkin

If you are looking for a recipe to wow your party guest, then you have come to the right place. I recently baked a cake inside a pumpkin and was surprised at how good it tasted; so I decided to try this technique to bake a pumpkin pie inside a pumpkin shell. After a little bit of thought and some experimentation this is what I came up with. I hope you like it as much as we did. Let's bake a pie inside a pumpkin~

Ingredients:

Pie Filling:

1 15 oz can pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling) I followed the recipe on the can for pumpkin pie and added 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup instead of sugar and heavy cream instead of the evaporated milk.

1 Small 7 inch whole pumpkin to bake the pie in. You can use a mini pumpkin.

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 Can of evaporated milk ( I used heavy cream)

1/4 Cup of sugar or I used pure Maple syrup and added a couple of tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1 9 inch pie shell or make your own or use my recipe

Canned whipped cream if desired for the topping

Pie Shell:I used my own recipe but you can use a single or double store bought pie shell and use a little sugar and a whipped egg white to coat the dough. I used a large can of pumpkin because I was creating this project without instructions and needed extra just in case.The recipe is for a smaller can though. I baked a mini meatloaf in the mini pumpkin.

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon powder sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

4 Tablespoons Crisco shortening

1 egg yolk 1 Egg white slightly whipped and some sugar for coating the pastry

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1/4 to 1/2 Cup Real cream or cold water

Utensils:

Measuring cups, spoons, bowls, spoons, cookie sheet, pastry mat, cutting board, knife, Stand mixer or mix by hand, or Food processor.

Method:

Thoroughly wash the pumpkin

Dry with a towel

Cut the top off as shown

Remove guts, saving the seeds

Wash the seeds in a colander

Place them on a clean dish towel or paper towel to dry

Sprinkle the seeds loosely on a plate to dry and save them to make roasted pumpkin seeds yum.

Pie Filling:

1 15 oz can pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling) I followed the cans recipe for pumpkin pie and added 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup and added a small amount of sugar, and used heavy cream instead of the evaporated milk. I also cooked the filling on the stove top to reduce the baking time because there is so much moisture in the pumpkin shell.

1 Small 7 inch whole pumpkin for the pie filling

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 Can of evaporated milk ( I used real cream)

1/4 Cup of sugar or I used pure Maple syrup and added a couple of tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

Canned whipped cream if desired for the topping

Mix all ingredients together using a stand mixer, or mix by hand.

Cook this mixture on the top of the stove until it changes color. It will be cooked again inside the pumpkin. The purpose of doing this is to reduce the baking time.

I have been experimenting with pie crust ingredients. This is the recipe my husband and I liked the best so far. I usually use all butter for my pie dough but decided to try half butter and half shortening, cream instead of water, cake flour instead of all purpose flour, powdered sugar instead of regular,and I added an egg yolk, and some vinegar.You might consider using lady's fingers for the crust. I made reference to this in Sunshiine's final thoughts.

Pie Crust is for a 9 inch pie crust if I recall. I had a small amount left over and used it for experimenting.

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon powder sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

4 Tablespoons Crisco shortening

1 egg yolk and (1 Egg white slightly whipped will be used later)

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1/4 Cup or more Real cream or cold water

Method:

Add flour sugar, salt, and baking powder to the food processor and pulse to mix.

Add half of the very cold butter and shortening to the processor and pulse to form a sandy mixture.

Add the rest of the shortening and butter and pulse again leaving a few pea size chunks.

Remove the dough mixture and put into a mixing bowl.

Pour egg yolk on top of dough.

Add vinegar and milk into a small bowl and mix well.

Slowly add this mixture to the butter/flour mixture and egg yolk and incorporate until you have the right consistency for pie dough. Add more flour or more cream to the mixture if needed to make the dough workable.

Roll the dough as shown in the next step.

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper if you have it.

Find a clean round object like a plate or bowl that is slightly smaller than the hole in the top of the pumpkin to make a pattern for the pie dough.

Roll out the pie dough on a floured surface.

Place the pattern over the dough and cut out 4-5 round circles of pie.

Make a design on one of the circles for the top of the pumpkin.

Whisk the egg white until it is kind of watery.

Place the circles on the cookie sheet and coat the top with the egg white mixture. This method will help keep the crust from absorbing the moisture from the pumpkin by coating the circles.

Sprinkle a little sugar over the dough circles.

Bake in the oven for about 3-5 minutes or until the top is a little dry. Watch closely and do not allow them to brown too much around the edges.

Turn the circles over and repeat the egg white/sugar method and cook for a few more minutes.

Remove the pie circles from the oven and allow them to cool.

• Method: The first two pictures were experiments and had a cake like texture. We preferred the last pie with less crust and the filling was not quite as dry as the smaller pies. We did like the smaller crust better as far as the texture. I made some minor adjustments to steps 5 and 6 to combine the things we liked about the different pies.

Poke holes in one of the dough circles using a fork to ventilate.

Place this circle in the bottom of the pumpkin shell and pour a small amount of the pumpkin puree over the round pie dough using enough that will allow the flavor of the pumpkin to be more noticeable than the crust.

Add another layer of pie crust. To create the swirls in the crust; layer the pie circles in the pumpkin at an angle buy pushing down on one edge of the pie crust until the filling on one end begins to cover the crust.

Pour a little pumpkin puree over the top of the dough like I mentioned before.

Repeat this process leaving enough room at the top of the pumpkin so the filling does not boil over and there is still room for the last pie circle which will be added to the top of the pumpkin after the pie is done. This will prevent the last layer of crust from over browning.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes.

View the pie through the oven door (with the light on) to check for doneness. When the center of the pie filling is pierced with a knife and comes out with a little filling on it and the pie skin just begins to turn into a darker color it is almost done. Watch the baking process closely and if I recall it took about 20-30 minutes for the pie to bake. Cook the pie long enough for the raw pumpkin inside the pumpkin skin to cook. You may pierce it with a fork to check for done-ness. When the pie is done carefully place the last layer of pie crust over the top of the pie.

Allow the pie to cool for about 4 hours before serving.

This pie is very tasty even though the texture is different than a traditional pumpkin pie. The first picture of the pumpkin with the swirls was my first attempt to baking a pie inside a pumpkin. The crust was not quite flaky enough because I did not add an egg wash when I baked the crust. The second picture I did. The crust was much nicer but I had too many layers which made the crust more noticeable than the pumpkin filling.

I made another version of this pumpkin pie made with lady's fingers in a tiramisu and caramel pumpkin pie and it tasted very good. I changed the way I made it by baking the pumpkin in the oven with no filling and pre-cooked the pumpkin filling and then filled the pumpkin shell, alternating the pumpkin filling, and the lady's fingers. We really liked the flavor and texture of the tiramisu with the caramel and the lady's fingers worked great, but I am not sure it would be considered a pumpkin pie. I tried to purchase more pumpkins to try different versions but in my small town pumpkins are only available during Halloween. I wanted to try turkey dressing in a pumpkin and see what I could create. I guess I will try next year.

If you decided to make this pie, I am sure you will be happy with the recipe by brushing the crust with an egg wash and pre-baking the crust using fewer layers or for an easier approach you can use lady's fingers instead of pie crust and bake everything together like I did the first time. I would still use the middle range size of pumpkin because I can't promise the large ones will work.

Baking the pumpkin puree inside a pumpkin is a great way to make a side dish and a dessert at the same time and is a pretty way to show off a pumpkin pie. The idea is to cut the pie into servings and remove the skin with the flesh that was left inside the pumpkin (before baking) and use it for the side dish. The swirls add character to the dessert.

I hope you try this for the holidays. We loved it.

Thanks for stopping by and may your holidays be safe and happy~

sunshiine~