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Welcome To foodies Pumpkin Patch

Welcome the foodies
Pumpkin Patch of Recipes!

Click here for the 1999 Pumpkin Patch of Tips.

From the 1998 Pumpkin Patch:
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Tureen Soup

From the 1997 Pumpkin Patch:
Old Witch's Pumpkin Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Stuffing for Poultry
Dottie's Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie
Pumpkin and Bourbon Chiffon Pie
Pumpkin Tea Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
May Schoenfeld's Pumpkin Bread

Perfect Pumpkin Pie
If there is ever a criticism of a fine pumpkin pie, it's that the bottom crust is soggy by the time it gets to the table. This recipe separates the baking of the crust and the custard filling. You'll need two matching pie pans, preferably 9 inchers. Warning: Recipe requires refrigeration time.

Custard filling ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups canned pumpkin (a 15 ounce can will suffice)
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Pastry for a single 9" pie crust. (See World's Flakiest Pie Crust recipe, and click here for tips on making pie crust).

For decorating the pie:

  • 3/4 cup heavy cream, well chilled, whipped with
  • 2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
  • walnut halves

To make the filling:
Set oven temperature at 350° Fahrenheit. Butter inside of 9 inch pie plate. In large bowl, combine filling ingredients. Beat with rotary beater until smooth. Pour half of the filling into buttered pie plate; set in large, shallow pan. Place in oven; add remainder of filling. Pour water into shallow pan to measure 1/2 inch up the sides of the pie plate . Bake 50 minutes, or until tip of a thin knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Cool filling on wire rack. Loosen edge with spatula and chill well - about 4 hours or overnight.

While the filling is chilling (poetry!), prepare pastry for a single pie crust for a 9" pie plate. Roll out dough, place in the pie plate, and scallop the edges. Refrigerate pastry about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit.

Prick entire surface of unbaked pie shell evenly with fork to prevent shell from puffing. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack.

Before placing filling in pre-baked crust, separate custard from pan with a thin spatula all around edge and underneath and shake to loosen. Holding custard above rim of pie crust, slip filling into shell.

Decorate edge of pie, between filling and crust, with whipped cream. Use a pastry bag with a Number 6 star tip (or, in a pinch, place whipped cream in a Ziploc and cut off a small corner). Garnish with the walnut halves or candied ginger. Refrigerate.

Serves 8.

Pumpkin Tureen Soup
Pick a pumpkin with a low, squat profile so that it will fit in your oven and hold lots of soup. Be sure it has a flat bottom and can sit politely in a pan without rolling over.

  • 7-8 pound pumpkin (sugar pumpkin, if possible - see Tips)
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup white portion of leeks, minced
  • 1/2 cup carrots, minced
  • 1/2 cup celery, minced
  • 4 cups beef broth (or half beef, half vegetable broth for a milder soup)
  • 1 cup tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (or canned, diced tomatoes)
  • 2 tablespoons farina (Cream of Wheat will do)
  • one bay leaf

Garnish:

  • sour cream (optional)
  • chives, minced (optional)

Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit.

Cut a lid from pumpkin leaving the stem on as a handle. Clean it out. Brush 2 tablespoons of the melted butter on the pumpkin's interior and the underside of the lid. Then, sprinkle interior with salt and pepper. Replace lid and place pumpkin in a large oven-to-table pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan or skillet, sauté minced leeks, carrots and celery in 2 tablespoons of the melted butter until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add broth; heat to boiling point. Add tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Beat in farina. Ladle soup into the pumpkin and float a bay leaf on top. Put the lid back on the pumpkin and bake for 45 - 60 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender, but not soft.

To serve, ladle the soup from the pumpkin, scraping out a portion of flesh with each serving. Garnish with sour cream and chives, if desired.

Serves 6-8.

Old Witch's Pumpkin Cake
Courtesy of Chef and Culinary Instructor Michael Andrews, Miami Beach, FL

Beat together:

  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups pumpkin
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Blend together and add to wet ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Then stir in:

  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Pour into a greased and floured 9" X 13" pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. When cool, top with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Make it in seconds with a food processor.

Cream:

  • 4 ounces of cream cheese
  • 4 tablespoons butter

Add:

  • 1/2 box of confectioner's sugar (1/2 lb.)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • A few drops of food coloring, if desired.

Beat well.

Pumpkin Stuffing for Poultry
A delicious, moist, inexpensive, and healthful variation on a theme.

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup apple juice or apple cider
  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 cup celery, chopped
  • 2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
  • 1 cup seedless grapes (optional)
  • 5 cups stale bread, cubed

Beat the eggs in a large, deep bowl. Stir in the apple juice or cider and the pumpkin. Blend in the salt and spices and then add the celery and fruit. Toss in the bread cubes and coat them with the pumpkin mixture. Let sit 15 minutes to absorb moisture before stuffing poultry.

Makes enough stuffing for two chickens or one large turkey.

Dottie's Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie
This can be made well ahead of time and frozen until needed.

Combine and heat gently, stirring until all sugar is dissolved:

  • 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange rind (optional)

Let cool and mix thoroughly with:

  • 1 quart softened vanilla ice cream

Pour into a 9" graham cracker crust.

Mix:

  • 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Sprinkle on top of pie. Freeze overnight. Wrap tightly if freezing for an extended period. Thaw slightly before serving.

Pumpkin and Bourbon Chiffon Pie
Sometimes, it's worth tinkering with tradition!

  • 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 3 slightly beaten egg yolks (save the whites)
  • One 16 ounce can pumpkin
  • 1/4 cup bourbon
  • 3 egg whites
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • One baked 9 inch pastry shell (see World's Flakiest Pie Crust recipe
  • Whipped cream
  • A dusting of nutmeg

In a saucepan, combine gelatin, 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; stir in milk, beaten egg yolks and pumpkin. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and just begins to boil. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon. Chill mixture until partially set.

In a separate, deep bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form (tips curl over). Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, beating until stiff peaks form (tips stand up straight). Fold the beaten egg whites into the pumpkin mixture. Pour filling into a baked and cooled pastry shell. Refrigerate several hours or until set. Serve with whipped cream and a dusting of nutmeg if desired.

Pumpkin Tea Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
A simple drop cookie that comes out of the oven like a tender little cake. This recipe requires a heavy duty or doubled cookie sheet. For Halloween, tint the frosting orange and stick a candy corn on top of each cake to suggest a plump little pumpkin. (Don't be intimidated by the 1 tablespoon of baking powder - that's correct.)

Cream together, adding one ingredient at a time:

  • 1/3 cup shortening
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup pumpkin

Sift together and then add to the dry ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • scant 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Chill batter at least 30 minutes but no longer than 1 hour (or baking powder may lose its effectiveness). Spoon by rounded teaspoonfuls onto restaurant grade or doubled-up cookie sheets at least 1 1/2" apart. Bake for approximately 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Cook until evenly baked but not browned. Cool. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

May Schoenfeld's Pumpkin Bread
A delicious partner for afternoon tea or coffee or arrange the slices (quartered) on your prettiest plate with some holiday cookies.

Sift, then measure:

  • 3 1/2 cups flour

Add:

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon. ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Add:

  • 2 cups pumpkin
  • 2/3 cups water
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs

Fold in:

  • 1 cup chopped nuts

Bake in two greased and floured loaf pans at 350 for about one hour. Use the toothpick test to check doneness. Cool the pans for 5 minutes before turning the bread out on a rack to cool completely.

 

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