Salted Caramel Pumpkin Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between pumpkin pie filling and pumpkin pie mix? ›

Pumpkin pie filling will be labeled as pumpkin pie mix or pumpkin pie filling. Ingredients - Pumpkin puree made from scratch contains only pumpkin, but canned puree may contain a preservative like salt. Pumpkin pie filling contains additional ingredients like sugar, spices, and thickeners.

It says it contains: pumpkin, sugar, water, eggs, enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), canola and/or soybean oil, nonfat milk, corn syrup, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, spices, corn sugar, mono & diglycerides, modified food starch.

It's there as a flavor enhancer, to provide contrast to the sweetness. The texture of the custard will be just fine without it. Desserts without salt can sometimes seem insipid, but the mixture of spices in pumpkin custard should prevent that issue.

Make the Filling

Let the pie cool on a rack (leave it on the baking sheet) to room temperature, a few hours. Slice or refrigerate until ready to serve. Make Ahead: Pumpkin pie can be made one day ahead of time and refrigerated.

Pumpkin pie mix can be used as a substitute for pure canned pumpkin in some recipes. However, since it is already sweetened and flavored, you'll need to make some adjustments. In most dessert recipes, leave out the pumpkin pie spice and cut down on the sugar since the pumpkin pie mix includes it.

If you meant to purchase pumpkin pie filling but accidentally grabbed a can of plain pumpkin, it's easy to sweeten and season the puree. Follow a good pumpkin pie recipe (there's usually a recipe printed right on the label) and add sugar and spices to the puree along with other ingredients like eggs before baking.

How Costco Keeps Its Pumpkin Pie So Cheap. In their book, David and Susan disclose that Costco's pumpkin pies are only semi-homemade, which helps cut down on costs.

Despite its reputation for great pre-packaged goods, Trader Joe's pumpkin pie was considered the worst of the batch. “I nearly spit it out,” one tester said.

The pie has a thin layer of apricot jelly over the top, which some people may not like since it changes the texture slightly, but it is easily removed by wiping with a paper towel. The crust of Costco's pumpkin pie is famously thin and buttery, though firm enough to allow you to serve it in one piece.

Pies with too much evaporated milk formed blisters on top.

Though the interior of the filling had a great, creamy texture. The flavor was ever-so-slightly muted and had a hint of milkiness to it.

Is heavy cream or evaporated milk better for pumpkin pie? ›

During my testing of pumpkin pies, I tried lots of different milk options – heavy whipping cream, regular milk (I used 2% in my testing), sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. Ultimately, I found heavy whipping cream to be the best. It produced the creamiest pie in my opinion.

As the name suggests, sweetened condensed milk makes the pie sweeter and gives it a denser, creamier texture. Evaporated milk, on the other hand, yields a lighter, airier result. Evaporated milk isn't sweetened either, which is why you can't simply swap one thickener for the other.

But if you sigh in disappointment when your first bite reveals a bottom crust that's pale and pasty rather than golden brown, try this: Prebake your crust before adding the pumpkin pie filling. Contrary to what you might think, baking the crust again once you've added its filling won't cause it to burn or toughen up.

According to FoodSafety.gov, homemade pumpkin pie can be stored in the refrigerator for 3–4 days. To keep your pie as fresh as possible, be sure to wrap it loosely in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

Why Are Store-Bought Pies Not Refrigerated? So that brings many of us to the question: Why are the pumpkin pies at the grocery store sitting out? Store-bought pumpkin pies include shelf-stable ingredients such as preservatives which allow them to last longer, even at room temp.

Although they both come in cans and the packaging looks almost identical, they can't be used interchangeably. Pumpkin puree doesn't have anything added to it, but pumpkin pie filling comes with pumpkin spice and sugar already mixed in.

Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

In this taste test, our Test Kitchen pros found that the biggest name in the pumpkin game does, in fact, make the best canned pumpkin on the market. Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin is a favorite among our culinary crew.

Solid pack pumpkin is exactly that: just pumpkin, and nothing else (despite the misleading pumpkin pie that is often on the label). It's sometimes called pumpkin puree or "100% pure pumpkin" to distinguish it from the similarly named pumpkin pie filling, which contains sugar and spices.

Sugar Baby Pumpkin

You'll find lots of sugar babies available at the farmers' market. Also known as Sugar Pie pumpkins, these thin-skinned squash are smaller (4-8 lbs.) and have a sweet, dense flesh with a fine-grained, smooth texture.