Pumpkin pie lacks aroma?

Question

Every year around this time I try to make pumpkin pie. We don't have that many varieties around here so I use a fresh butternut squash that I bake and then puree. However, if the cooked squash is sweet and aromatic, when combined with the other ingredients for a pie, it loses that aroma and turns very bland. Or one of the spices overshadows the whole taste. I have tried a few different pumpkin pie recipes but they all turn out the same. A big disadvantage for me is that I haven't eaten a proper pumpkin pie (because where I live it's not very traditional), so I don't have anything to compare it with.

I would like to know if you had stumbled across similar issues when you made your pies and know how to correct them, or if that's just the way pumpkin pie should taste. I would expect it to taste at least as good as the cooked pumpkin, if not better.

Answer 1

Pumpkin pie where I come from (USA) is made with these big round orange squashes (we call them "pumpkins", but I believe that term is used for different things in some other countries). Unlike butternut squash, or other members of the squash family, our pumpkins aren't considered to be delicious cooked by themselves, and so people here pretty much only use them mixed with other tasty ingredients to make sweet dishes -- especially pies.

So the pies pretty much taste like the custard ingredients they are made with plus cinnamon, nutmeg, and the other "pumpkin pie spices" traditionally included. The moist texture is pretty much the only thing the pumpkin contributes to the finished product. In fact the pumpkin itself is such a minor contributor to the pie, that most people (I mean regular household cooks, not famous chefs or enthusiasts) will use canned pumpkin puree in a "homemade" pumpkin pie. However pumpkin pie is so traditional here, we tend to go on and on about how wonderful it is, and at winter holidays stores try to sell stuff scented with "pumpkin spice".... What that scent really is is just "spice"- mostly cinnamon.

I wonder if your expectations for pumpkin pie are a little too high, especially since all your recipes keep coming out similar, and "one of the spices overshadows the whole taste". I suspect that that's just the way pumpkin pie is supposed to taste. Even some Americans don't really like it.

Answer 2

This question is super old, but I see that no one has mentioned how there are 2 different types of pumpkin in the US. For pies, you want whats usually called a "sugar pumpkin". These are orange, like Halloween pumpkins, but their color is just a bit darker, and they're typically the size of a honeydew melon.In other words, smaller than a basketball, but bigger than a baseball. You want this type because they're less watery for the puree, and they have more flavor. Unlike a Halloween pumpkin--cooked down, its pretty much just a bland, squash flavor. Here in California, most large, well-stocked supermarkets will have them starting in the Fall. I LOVE pumpkin pie!