If I put thinly sliced raw pumpkin between two pie crusts, will the filling be cooked enough by the time the crust is golden?
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1If you are interested in this type of baking, do look into pumpkin strudels, they are delicious. (And made with shaved/cut up pumpkin).– rumtscho ♦Apr 5, 2021 at 16:21
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Idea - deep fry the pumpkin slices before enpieing (is that a word?)– CriggieApr 5, 2021 at 22:48
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1@Criggie - It's a perfectly cromulent word.– TetsujinApr 6, 2021 at 8:34
2 Answers
Not only is this possible, I have done it. One of my favorites, in fact. But the most palatable version I've made varies a little bit from apple pie - rather than just tossing cinnamon sugar with the filling all willie nillie, I slice the squash very thin, line it against the edge of the crust, and keep working to the center. Think of it as like a tarte tatine - all lined up in a row (only this is not upside down like a tarte tatine).
Also, instead of just relying on caramelization on its own, I make a raw egg custard (just 4-5 egg yolks, a volume of sugar roughly equal to the quantity of the eggs, and some cream whipped together), add my nutmeg and cinnamon and other warm spices, and pour the raw custard all over the sliced sweet potatoes. I like to garnish with some additional nutmeg. Sometimes I like to add a splash of rum to the custard. It is so delicious, especially with a gingersnap based crust.
It's also possible (and encouraged) to brulee the top when the custard is done, and line the edge with some candied pecans.
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5Pumpkin or sweat potato? Those are two different foodstuffs in my book.– WillekeApr 5, 2021 at 8:41
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2That's not what I would call a 'pie' though. To me it needs a crust over the top to qualify as a pie, otherwise it's a tart. [I understand that this might be one of those terminologies with large regional variation - for instance I've never understood how pizza can be called a pie either ;)– TetsujinApr 5, 2021 at 9:46
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6@Tetsujin That's interesting - and not a distinction I've run into before. In my experience, there are other things that differentiate a tart from a pie - many pies (in the US) don't have a top crust. Some have a crumble topping, others a giant mound of meringue... others, like pecan pie or pumpkin pie have nothing at all. The pan is generally what differs for me - tart pans have much more vertical sides, are often ridged (pie sides are generally flat) and tarts have no top lip - instead, they're cut even with the top edge of the pan.– Catija ♦Apr 5, 2021 at 14:07
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@Catija - I guessed this was likely regional. To me, a pie can have no bottom crust - just filling & a top [more likely for home-made for obvious transportation issues], but it must have a top. Without it's a tart or a flan. I did a quick Google images search - I'm based in the UK so that's what will lead the results. I composited a picture of the first row of results; searching meat pie, apple pie, apple tart & vegetable flan - i.stack.imgur.com/M0nZ6.jpg [In the UK, a crumble would be just that… a crumble, neither pie nor anything else.]– TetsujinApr 5, 2021 at 14:41
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3@Tetsujin I think this is a UK/US difference. Coming from the UK I agree that pastry on top (with or without pastry on the bottom) is a pie, pastry only on the bottom is a tart or flan. And there is a similar comment here (npr.org/sections/thesalt/2011/10/12/141278315/…) But then you run into Lemon Meringue Pie and all bets are off!– DragonelApr 5, 2021 at 17:17
Many apple pie recipes bake for over an hour. That would be plenty of time to cook pumpkin.