Eggless Pumpkin Pie Recipe of 1877
Posted by Warren
Makes one 9-inch pie, single crust, custard filling. Text version is below page image.
Buckeye Cookery, and Practical Housekeeping, by Estelle W. Wilcox, 1877
If you can not eat eggs then this pie is for you. This pumpkin pie uses flour or crackers as the thickening agent that replaces the function of the eggs.
Pumpkin pies are eaten all year long but especially around the holiday months.
Make it easy on yourself and freeze the pies for later use. Do not believe what you heard that you can not freeze pumpkin pie. You can if it is done right.
It is fine to use can puree pumpkin if you do not want to go through the trouble of processing fresh pumpkins. Libby’s is quite good.
Eggless Pumpkin Pie Recipe and tips from 1877
Buckeye Cookery, and Practical Housekeeping, by Estelle W. Wilcox, 1877 – Text Version
EGGLESS SQUASH OR PUMPKIN PIE.
Making the Pumpkin Puree
Stew the squash or pumpkin till very dry, and press through a colander;
Pumpkin Pie Ingredients and Directions
to each pint of this allow one table-spoon butter, beat in while warm one cup brown sugar or molasses, a little salt, one table-spoon cinnamon, one tea-spoon ginger, and one half tea-spoon soda;
a little allspice may be added, but it darkens the pies;
Pumpkin Pie Thickening
roll a few crackers very fine, and add a handful to the batter,
or thicken with two table-spoons flour or one of corn starch. As the thickening property of pumpkin varies, some judgment must be used in adding milk.
A Cookbook with vintage pie recipes
This was the great mid-American cookbook of its day. It began life as a charity cookbook in 1876.
They published the Buckeye Cookery cookbook to raise money to build a parsonage.
They named it The Centennial Buckeye Cook Book, in honour of America’s Centennial.
Why was the book so popular? Clearly, it met the needs of thousands of women looking for advice on how to feed their families and manage their households.
This cookbook kept up-to-date by revisions covering newly introduced foods and equipment.
It contains about 300 pages of cookery recipes and another 125 or so of household hints, suggestions for caring for the sick, for doing laundry, for the cellar and the ice-house, for “Hired Help”, for preserving, gardening – and everything else within the housewives’ sphere of responsibility.
Pumpkin Pie Recipe
—Ingredients and instructions are not the actual vintage recipe but is provided for reference purposes.
Pastry dough – single crust
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup ice cold water
1 teaspoon cold cano la oil
Filling
1 3/4 cups (one 15 ounce can) pumpkin puree
3/4 cup white sugar
1/8 cup light raw sugar
1/8 cup honey
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
Directions
1. Prepare the pastry: ??Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan or dish. Trim the edges of the pie. Fold the overhang under itself and pinch it together to create a high edge on the pan???s rim. Flute the edge decoratively.
2. Refrigerate or freeze the pie shell until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 375°F.
3. Partially bake the pie shell: Remove the pastry shell from the refrigerator or freezer and line with a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper. Large enough to overhang the sides patting it to the bottom and up and over the sides of the pie shell. Cover the bottom of the shell with a generous layer of pie weights or raw short grain rice. The weights keep the crust from bubbling and help prevent shrinkage.
4. Bake shell for 20 minutes at 375°F. Lift edge of foil to check the dough. If it looks wet continued baking, checking it every five minutes until the dough is pale gold.
5. Prepare filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, honey and eggs until well blended. Add the cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, vanilla and mace and mix well with the melted butter. Add the pumpkin puree, milk, heavy cream and whisk until smooth. Pour into the partially baked pie shell.
6. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
7. Bake the pie until the filling is slightly raised and firm in the middle, 50-60 minutes. The center will jiggle like Jell-O when done. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Store the pie covered in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Serving tip: Serve each wedge with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.
Save the pumpkin pie for up to a month by freezing it. It must be done the right way. Otherwise, when it comes time to thaw it you will be disappointment. My Freeze Pumpkin Pie has all of the instructions you need.
Pumpkin Pie Success
To take your pumpkin pie over-the -top add mini marshmallows.
When you are ready to serve the pie, preheat the broiler and spread mini marshmallows evenly over the top of the pumpkin pie.
Put the pie onto a rack under the broiler and lightly brown the marshmallows.
Keep a very close eye on the pie. The marshmallows will brown quickly.
