Pumpkin pie

[cjsmith]

I'm experimenting with sugar levels. The recipe I have used for decades is a bit oversweet, so as a first step, just now I made one pie with half the sugar my recipe calls for. I didn't add or subtract anything else. I wanted to see what this would do.

I will never add the "normal" amount of sugar again! WOOHOO!

The sugar decrease changes the texture a little, but not so much that I care. Next time around I also think I'll crank up the cinnamon, ginger, and clove, to give the tongue a little extra treat to play with in the absence of facepounding sweetness. But just as it is I find it scrumptious.

Now that I've seen how "half" comes out, I need to think on what to tweak to get a good no-sugar pie. That seems to me to be the most flexible option. People wanting a low sugar intake can have such a pie as is, people going for a high sugar intake can sprinkle powdered sugar on top or load up on the sweetened whipped cream, and those who are flexible can go either way as the mood strikes them.

I have enough supplies for one more this afternoon. I'm musing on what to tweak for the texture. I know if I do nothing, it won't congeal as much as it needs to. Hmmm...

Comments

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

Flavorless jello?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I thought of pectin. :-)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

hooray for successful experimentation!!!

would adding another egg help it set up?

i remember various attemps at a no-suger/alterna-sweetened apple pies for my diabetic grandma. one had me boiling apple cider down to a syrup, and another had me chopping golden raisins into ittybitty pieces. both were pretty gross to my then-teenage palate.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think I need to decide what I'm going for with the no-sugar pie. Half of me wants to have something I can offer to friends who don't want to eat sugar. The other half says gosh darn it, does EVERYTHING have to taste so damn SWEET all the time?

For that first bunch, boiling the sugars out of apples or raisins might or might not work; fructose has a different response than sucrose, and a person with a health concern about it would know more. But for the second, I'd skip all that fussing about and just have the darn pumpkin. Pumpkin tastes fine and shouldn't need to be disguised with sweetness. (But then, I drink cranberry juice -- the kind that's actually all cranberry, not apple or grape -- so I may be a little odd on this one.)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

does EVERYTHING have to taste so damn SWEET all the time?


no joke. i've made apple pies with about half the sugar called for - really, it depends on the apples used. i read somewhere about using 1/4 tsp in tart fruit pies to cut the acidity, thus reducing the need for sugar.

i second allanh's suggestion of stevia. i've used it in coffee at work, and a single packet will last me for 2-3 large cups of coffee. it's a different kind of sweet, too -- not the sickening sweet of sugar.

i do find that some recipes require sugar (or salt) to make the baking voodoo actually work. the chemisty behind baking is a fascinating thing.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Which apples makes a huge difference. Unfortunately, as I've never had the kind of patience it takes to peel and chop apples, choosing apples for pie is something I have almost never done and would likely screw up. :-)

A touch of salt added to something sweet will help us perceive it as significantly sweeter, too.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

the second mom figured out that my pie crusts were superior to hers, we took to tag-teaming the pies. she'd peel and chop, i'd do crusts and mix ingredients. the two of us could kill a half-bushel of apples in a day doing this.

i hate "salty" foods for the most part, but i am always amazed at how just a pinch of salt can improve the flavor of something significantly. my brother's mashed potatoes are so good because he's mastered that satlED-but-not-saltY thing.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Do you have seriously cold hands? That really helps with pie crusts! It's annoying in so many other ways, but hey, at least there's some compensation!

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

no, i don't really have cold hands. i do use icewater, though, and use my hands as little as possible directly on the dough. it's an intuitive thing for me, something i almost do entirely by feel, having learned from watching mom.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

In a pumpkin pie filling, sugar acts as a liquid. So you might want to add something like a little more of the milk/evaporated milk/cream/whatever you use to maintain the texture. It won't be *exactly* the same, as sugar adds its own unique sugar thing to the texture as well as acting as a liquid. But it should be more than acceptable.

The eggs are what makes the custard set, so there shouldn't be any problems on that score.

I also add nutmeg to pumpkin pie.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I've always had an urge to add nutmeg! The recipe doesn't call for it, but it just seems to go, doesn't it? Cinnamon, ginger, NUTMEG, and clove.

The half-sugar pie definitely did set. It just seemed... too moist, too ready to split into smaller little blobby pieces. Maybe I'm imagining things. It's looking a lot better now that it's been out of the oven for more than twenty minutes. :-)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

so when, exactly, will the taste-tesing begin?? if i leave now and head west, i could be there by, um, 2008? ;-)

what kind of pie crust do you use? homemade? whatever's on sale? or no crust for pumpkin?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You could be here by some time tomorrow if you decided to head to an airport on the way! :-)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

there is that. and dontcha know, the airport is conveniently located just a couple miles west of my house! and i AM off work til wednesday...

*looks at the bank balance and cries*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the tough part. :-(

[firecat]

The Joy of Cooking recipe calls for either nutmeg or allspice.

I've also been known to add orange juice, orange zest, or almond extract (almond extract would certainly add sweetness).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think I'll be adding nutmeg from now on. Pie number two had nutmeg and one other ingredient I am too embarrassed to name because it wasn't a good idea -- but the nutmeg is tasty.

Allspice, eh? I hadn't thought of that, but it does make some sense.

Today I am discovering it is bad for my tummy to have had nothing to eat yesterday but pumpkin pie. Oopsie. :-) Today I will have food. :-)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

You might want to experiement with Stevia, a natural sweetener which is available at most health food or vitamin stores (and Whole Foods, of course). It's much sweeter than sugar, so you may need something (I like the earlier suggestion of unflavored gelatin) to bulk up the texture a little bit.

Stevia has calories, but is so much sweeter than sugar, the calories are pretty minimal ... and so is the blood sugar impact.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think if I'm going to make it sweet anyway, I'll just go ahead and use sugar. As I mentioned to just_cyd above, I need to decide what my goal is with the no-sugar-added pie. Do I want to feed it to a diabetic friend (or to my athletic sister and brother-in-law, who both stay away from sweets)? Or do I want to feed it to people (including me, I hope) who enjoy a variety of things without necessarily making them taste sweet?

[racerxmachina.livejournal.com]

The recipe on the sticker that was on the pumpkin doesn't call for any sugar besides what's in the condensed milk.

Thus:
a cup and a third of steamed pumpkin (appx half a small sugar pie pumpkin)
1 can sweet condensed milk
1 cup hot water (I actually swish out the can of milk to get it all out)
1 egg
cinnamon, nutmeg, clove as you like-- I do 1.5 tsp/1 tsp/.5 tsp

Blend all together, pour into 9" pie shell. Bake at 375 for 55 minutes.

SUPER EASY.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Well yeah, if you use sweetened condensed milk, sure it includes all the sugar you need! That makes sense. It's been added already. :-)