Homemade Pumpkin Pie or Cake- Um, Pake?

This week we went out and bought some pumpkins (we haven't made it out to the pumpkin patch yet). We got three big ones shown above to have out side (I'm going do something with them, just haven't decided what just yet). I let Elisha pick out a little pie pumpkin so he can paint it. Well, even after warning him that his pumpkin is not a ball and that it should be tossed or rolled, my warnings were ignored and he ended up with a cracked open pumpkin. He was pretty devastated, but I told him that we would use it to make a pumpkin pie--that perked him up a little.

I have NEVER made a pumpkin pie from SCRATCH before, but now that I have a decent amount of kitchen counter space and a dishwasher I felt ready to try it out.

Here is my process and outcome:

First, we scooped out all of the seeds and "guts". We saved the seeds for roasting, planting, and craft projects.

Next, after scooping out the "guts", the quickest and easiest way that I have found to cook down the pumpkin is to stick the pumpkin halves in in a microwave safe dish with a couple inches of water, cover and cook for about 15 min.

After the pumpkin is done cooking in the microwave it is hot and soft. Just scoop out the pumpkin "lining" and put it in a bowl. The outside can be disposed of after scooping it out.

Scooping out the pumpkin.

blend the pumpkin that you scooped out to make a puree.  From here you can make all kinds of yummy pumpkin things.

Pumpkin Pie Filling:

• 1 cup sugar. Instead of sugar, you could use
  honey (use 1.25 cups),
  natural sugar (1 cup),
  agave (1 cup),
  brown sugar (1 cup),
                                                            Stevia (1/3 cup) (I used Truvia for baking: 1/2 cup)
• 1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• one half teaspoon ground ginger
• one half teaspoon salt 
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups pumpkin puree (from your pumpkin)
• 1.5 cans (12oz each) of evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• I also added in a little flour to thicken it up because it was very watery, just add until you like the consistency.

And of course I made my own crust from scratch as well. I used a recipe that is easy and doesn't call for shortening:

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
• 1/4 t. sea salt
• 1/3 cup cold butter or firm coconut oil
• 4-6 Tablespoons cold water

Cutting in the cold butter.

The pies are ready to bake!

Pies are done and smell really good! (I think adding the flour caused it to form a sort of skin on top of the pie).

I made this mini, deep dish pumpkin pie for a taste tester. Who better to taste test than my brother in law and my sister in law's boyfriend? ( Matt will get to taste test later after he gets home from work). The consensus:  Because I added flour to thicken up my filling it turned out more  like a "pake" (pie-cake). It could have been a tad more sweeter, but a side a of ice cream and whipped topping can remedy this. Also we taste tested within minutes of oven removal (so anxious). Maybe tasting at a chilled state would change the texture? It was kind of like a bread pudding texture. The crust was really good. Overall, not bad, maybe a new pumpkin dessert creation? Maybe I can come up with a sweet glaze to top it with? I will look into this further when it comes close to time to get them out of the freezer for Thanksgiving. :)