This squash is a wash: I baked a pumpkin pie without sugar!

March 3, 2008 11:33 PM

Fresh off of making chicken that was too hot to eat, my wife and I have baked a pumpkin pie that has no sugar in it. Before you take away my spatula, please help me rescue what's left...

Okay, no excuses but this concoction came to be due to two circumstances: (a) A pregnant wife who really, really wanted pumpkin pie in March and (b) an important phone call during the mixing process.

Anyways, we now have 7/8th of a large, perfectly cooked pumpkin pie sitting in the fridge. It's... very bland and what isn't bland is squash-flavored. I can eat squash, but I doubt that I can do two pounds of cold, bland pumpkin and the wife won't go near it in it's present state.

I have pretty much every major utensil and food-stuff available and am pretty deft (and daft, apparently) in the kitchen. I have no problem throwing away the crust, so feel free to suggest something from your bevy of "reused sugarless pie filling" recipes. I beseech thee, Julia Children of AskMefi: Can this pumpkin be saved?

posted by unixrat to food & drink (14 answers total)

How about making it into a mashed potato dish (mashed pumpkin)?
posted by metahawk at 11:40 PM on March 3, 2008

One year at thanksgiving my grandmother forgot to put sugar in the pumpkin pie. I didn't want to make her feel bad so I just used a lot of whipped cream with it and it didn't really taste all that bad after getting used to it. The comments on this post suggest scooping out the pie part and mixing in some sugar and then cooking just until a crust forms so you can try that.
posted by lilkeith07 at 12:29 AM on March 4, 2008

Make some whipped cream (or a combo of whipped cream and marscapone or cream cheese) and generously sweeten it with a combo of sugar and maple syrup. Scoop out the filling of the pumpkin pie and whip it separately to lighten and smooth it out. Fold the two together and optionally sprinkle with crumbled amaretti cookies (or crushed heath bar). Ta-da! Pumpkin mousse.

Alternatively, heat it, whip it, and mix it with a buttload of soft butter, some salt and pepper, maybe a smidge of maple syrup and/or lemon juice and then it's basically a side dish.

If you were super brave, you could probably even mix it with whipped egg whites and use it as the custard half of a souffle (since pumpkin pie is essentially a baked custard anyway), but I' not good enough with souffle to know the specifics of how to make that happen.
posted by mostlymartha at 12:38 AM on March 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

Throw a bunch of sugar on top, whip out the blowtorch, and cook yourself up some pumpkin pie brulee.
posted by IvyMike at 12:53 AM on March 4, 2008

'The squash is a wash' has me giggling, thanks!
So here's what I would do - get some maple syrup and cook it down with a little cinnamon (and/or a little cayenne if you want to be a wacky gourmet) until it thickens up a bit, and then get some plates with a fairly high lip or deep indentation in the center. Drizzle the thickened syrup all over and around the individual pie slice so it makes a little pool and make sure you squidge every bite all around in the syrup. I think the combination of the pure pumpkin-flavored unsweetened pie and the syrup would be completely delish and might even start a new trend!
posted by Wroksie at 1:52 AM on March 4, 2008

You should carefully scoop out the pumpkin part of the pie, make a thick sugar syrup with the appropriate amount of sugar for the pie, mix the two together, then spoon it back in the pie shell. Possibly bake it, or just eat it as-is.
posted by beerbajay at 2:25 AM on March 4, 2008

try turning it into pumpkin fritters?
posted by wayward vagabond at 2:51 AM on March 4, 2008

Things that will help blandness:

- Serving warmed or at least room temperature, rather than chilled;

- Get a microplane grater or similar, plus some fresh stick cinnamon and, if you can at all find it, some fresh whole nutmeg. Grate cinnamon and nutmeg onto the top of the warmed pie slice;

- Get some cream, sweeten generously, and whip it (yourself, not canned) to just the right consistency, add two huge dollops to top of pie;

- Serve with rather rich homemade hot cocoa, also with the cream on top. Put a lot of chocolate in the cocoa.

The idea is to provide strong flavors and irresistible texture around the pumpkin pie, so that it's blandness is actually a welcome complement. You might consider having the pie with or after a fairly light, but flavor-intense meal - spicy Thai or something like that.
posted by amtho at 4:23 AM on March 4, 2008

Mix it into some softened vanilla ice cream to make some delicious pumpkin ice cream.
posted by FreezBoy at 5:24 AM on March 4, 2008

I would dig out the interior, push it through a ricer, and use it to make a pumpkin bread pudding with some challah bread.
posted by bcwinters at 6:05 AM on March 4, 2008

You should carefully scoop out the pumpkin part of the pie, make a thick sugar syrup with the appropriate amount of sugar for the pie, mix the two together, then spoon it back in the pie shell. Possibly bake it, or just eat it as-is.

I like this idea best - it seems easy enough and you'll wind up with an edible pumpkin pie to satisfy your wife's craving.

Also, if you didn't put spices in it (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc), do this too.
posted by tastybrains at 6:50 AM on March 4, 2008

In answer to your sly (un)asked question.... "Pumpkin" pie year round:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked 4 hours or more
1 cup coconut meat (fresh is best but it is avail in a can)
2 cups carrot juice
3/4 cup agave nectar (get it at health food store)
3/4 cup coconut butter or coconut oil (note that this is not coconut water or milk)
1/3 cup date paste
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 tbs ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp sea salt

Put everything in a blender and blend till smooth. Pour concoction into preferred crust. Put in the fridge for a few hours to set. Tastes and looks just like Pumpkin Pie. No, really.
posted by dobbs at 7:17 AM on March 4, 2008

Two words: Pumpkin Concrete
posted by grateful at 7:28 AM on March 4, 2008

If it were me, I would probably scoop out the filling and mix in some sage, thyme, and an egg or two... Then use it to fill pumpkin ravioli. But I'm not a pumpkin pie fan, so personally I wouldn't put a lot of priority into saving the pie. If you google "pumpkin ravioli recipe" you'll find tons of recipes to inspire you and help you figure out proportions and sauces.
posted by vytae at 11:13 AM on March 4, 2008