Is Making Your Own Pumpkin Puree Ever Worth It?

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Who says pumpkin pie is just for autumn? Not us, and not a whole lot of folks who use pumpkin purée in year-round dishes. But fresh pumpkins are harder to find outside the autumn and early-winter seasons, creating a conundrum of finding high-quality pumpkin purée for those rich, warm, crave-able pies. To get a deeper look at the crucial filling, and whether it's worth it to make your own pumpkin purée from scratch, we reached out to baking specialist Alex George, creator of the Lily P Crumbs blog. As a big advocate for baking at home, you might be surprised at her take on pumpkin-based cooking. 

When it comes to homemade pumpkin pies, George shares her experience from a self-instigated baking extravaganza. "I put myself to the test myself by baking 12 different pumpkin pie recipes (mostly from food bloggers, with a couple from cookbooks)," she explains. Only one of the recipes required puréeing fresh pumpkin, so it was easy to distinguish the results compared to the other 11 pies. In her opinion, all the extra work didn't justify the time, mess, and effort. 

"To me, the flavor wasn't noticeably better, and the texture wasn't improved," notes George. The textural consistency of the pie's custard far outweighed any flavor difference gained from the fresh pumpkin purée. "Since pumpkin itself is fairly mild, classic pumpkin pie gets most of its flavor from the spices, sugar, dairy, and eggs. Once everything is baked together, the difference between fresh and canned pumpkin is subtle at best.

Alex George's blessing on using canned pumpkin purée could be a relief for home-kitchen chefs everywhere. It's not even necessary to compromise the earthy, fresh flavors of homemade pumpkin pies if you choose the purest canned pumpkin with as few additives as possible. And we have some pretty useful tips in our list of 8 Ways To Hack Canned Pumpkin Puree So It Tastes Better. They include flavor-enhancing ideas such as roasting the canned purée before combining it with other ingredients, or re-cooking it on the stovetop for a few minutes. The heat can help release inherent pumpkin flavors, reduce excess moisture, and even lessen any lingering "canned" or metallic tastes. 

Other ideas for improving canned pumpkin purée include straining moisture through a sieve to increasing smoothness, and adding fresh, new spices to canned versions. This not only perks up the overall filling but provides an opportunity to customize with your own personal pumpkin pie spice blend. It's also possible to take things in a totally different direction with secret pumpkin pie ingredients like garam masala, orange zest, maple syrup, goat cheese, or mascarpone. 

These ideas work for fresh, seasonal, from-scratch pumpkin filling as well. Either way gives a pie to be proud of — so it really comes down to time, cost, and availability of fresh pumpkin. When keeping canned purée in your pantry, you won't be endlessly waiting for chilly autumn evenings to enjoy warm pumpkin pies, breads, soups, pancakes, trifles, and cheesecakes.