PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - It's no surprise that master chefs and award-winning cookbook authors almost always prefer fresh ingredients to anything canned, frozen or otherwise processed.
But that precept fails when it comes to pumpkin and the many wonderful pies, breads and other goodies the orange squash spawns - even now, when its popularity and freshness peak.
"After trying a couple of times to make pies with 'from scratch' pumpkin puree (cutting, roasting, scraping, mashing), I concluded that it's really not worth the trouble - in fact, canned pumpkin is superior in some ways because the puree has been cooked down to a properly thick consistency," James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Brooke Dojny writes in her latest book, "Dishing up Maine."
"Just be sure not to buy presweetened and spiced pumpkin-pie filling," she cautions.
It may seem counterintuitive, but canned pumpkin provides the heavy texture and reliable consistency so essential to good baking better than fresh, Dojny said.
Ambitious cooks who go to all the trouble to make a pumpkin pie from scratch are likely to find that the extra effort is of little advantage.
"The taste isn't very different at all from the canned," Dojny says.
The former prep chef for Martha Stewart says her preference for canned pumpkin runs counter to her usual approach to cooking.
"When the fresh is available, it's usually the better choice," she says, admitting she was hard pressed to think of an ingredient other than pumpkin where that was not the case.
The exception is for pumpkin baked or roasted as a vegetable, for which Dojny says fresh is best, as with any other type of squash.
When selecting fresh pumpkins for eating, Dojny suggest sticking with so-called sugar pumpkins, which are much smaller, darker in colour and have a rounder shape than the large Halloween pumpkins used to make jack-o'-lanterns. The latter tend to be watery and make poor pies and cakes.
Dojny's recipe for bourbon pumpkin pie follows a classic formula. A small slug of bourbon (or rum) is added for interest, but she says the pie is fine without spirits.
Bourbon Pumpkin Pie
Pastry for single-crust pie
1 can (398 ml/14 oz) pumpkin puree
175 ml (¾ cup) sugar
2 eggs
175 ml (¾ cup) heavy cream
175 ml (¾ cup) whole milk
30 ml (2 tbsp) bourbon or rum
7 ml (1 1/2 tsp) ground cinnamon
2 ml ( 1/2 tsp) ground ginger
2 ml ( 1/2 tsp) ground nutmeg
1 ml ( 1/4 tsp) salt
Sweetened whipped cream, to serve
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough, working from the centre until you have a 30-cm (12-inch) round. Fold dough in half and ease it into a 23-cm (9-inch) pie pan with the fold in the centre. Unfold dough and fit pastry into pan. Trim and flute edges and prick crust all over with a fork. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
Press a sheet of foil into the bottom of the pie shell. Bake a 190 C (375 F) oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until the crust is pale golden. If the pastry starts to puff up, press the bottom gently with a large spatula to flatten. Fill immediately or let cool on a rack.
To make filling, in a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar and eggs. Then whisk in cream, milk, bourbon, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Pour into baked pie shell.
Bake in a 190 C (375 F) oven until filling is set at the edges and a knife inserted near the centre comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack before serving at room temperature. Serve topped with whipped cream.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
