Vincent Price’s Pumpkin Pie – A Vintage Halloween Recipe Test - Mid-Century Menu (2024)

FAQs

Does the toothpick test work for pumpkin pie? ›

You should also see that the filling has darkened and the texture of the pie should be a bit puffed up from when you put it in the oven. If you're still uncertain, stick a knife (or a toothpick) in the center and see if it comes out clean. You can also stick in an instant-read thermometer in the middle.

The 17th century French chef François Pierre La Varenne is credited with developing the first recipe for a “pompion” torte around 1650, complete with a pastry crust. English recipes including various dried fruits and nuts in the filling later followed La Varenne's prototype.

New Englanders brewed pumpkin ale, they added dried pumpkin to flips, and they stewed pumpkin as a vegetable. However, it was their pumpkin pie that, over the following centuries, went on to become an edible icon. Pumpkin is native to North America; it was brought to Europe as part of the “Columbian Exchange”.

Try the Toothpick Test

The way you test a cake for doneness also works for pumpkin pie: Insert a toothpick (or a knife) near the center of the pie and, if it comes out clean, your pie is done. If it's oh-so-close, keep in mind that the custard continues to cook as the pie cools.

Pumpkin pie is most popular among residents in North Carolina, Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, West Virginia, Mississippi, and South Dakota.

The former “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” star, 23, recently took to her Instagram Story to show off her eldest daughter Ella's pink and purple bento box filled with whole strawberries, frozen grapes and eight mozzarella sticks.

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In English, the word pumpkin is often used as a term of endearment. Other English words that people commonly use to express their adoration for someone include babe, baby, beautiful, buddy, cupcake, cutie-pie, darling, dear, handsome, honey, pet, princess, sugar, sweet pea, sweetie, or sweetie-pie.

Early American settlers of the Plymouth Colony in southern New England (1620-1692) may have made pumpkin pies, of sorts, without crusts. They stewed pumpkins or filled a hollowed out pumpkin shell with milk, honey and spices, and then baked it in hot ashes. Northeastern Native American tribes grew squash and pumpkins.

How do I make sure my pumpkin pie doesn't crack? ›

Cooling the pie slowly and gradually in your oven ensures that the top won't crack; it's a trick Saffitz learned from baking holiday pies for years in her parent's home kitchen. “My dad never turns on the heat, so it's always very cold in their kitchen,” she says.

Solution if it's too late: If the pie hasn't been out of the oven for too long, you can put it back in the oven. Cover the pie with foil and bake it at 425°F, checking after 15 minutes.

Carving pumpkins or Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins are typically thinner, easier to saw into and have less and more stringy guts on the inside; making them easier to clean while pie pumpkins, meant for baking, are usually smaller and more rounded. Pie pumpkins are used for cooking or baking and are also called sugar pumpkins.