The Saga of the 37 Pumpkins - Installment No. 9 - Pecan Praline Pumpkin Pie

Mrs. Squash ran into the crowd. She shouted and bellowed and waved her stalk about.

Her friends from the vine-weaving club's faces dropped when they realized what had happened. They trotted over to console their friend, but she did not stop to accept their offers.

Cucurbita stood in a corner, preaching to a small group of teenagers.

"Murderer!" Mrs. Squash howled, hurling herself upon Cucurbita. "Murderer! Murderer!"

Cucurbita was a frail woman after her many months spent in the hot sun, and was no match for a grief-stricken and overweight attacker.

She attempted to fight back with calming words, but no matter what she said, the attack was relentless. The teenagers who might have supported Cucurbita did not do so. They were hesitant to fight an elder. They shifted uncomfortably, considering their options. Maybe they should leave. Maybe this situation was too bad. Mrs. Squash pounded on Cucurbita's rind again and again, every pound a gesticulation to accompany an exclamation of "Murderer!"

"I'm going to crock a pumpkin tonight so that we can have a pecan praline pumpkin pie for dessert tomorrow," a woman declared, walking into the foyer and examining the rows of pumpkins lined up on the tile there. She noticed a pleasantly round pumpkin propped oddly against a lumpy, deformed one, and plucked up the former, then turned out the light and carried the little squash away to the kitchen.

And then there were 27...

For the complete Saga archives, click here.

Pecan Praline Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh pumpkin puree, or you can use canned.
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 4 large eggs
• 12 oz. can evaporated milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

If using fresh pumpkin, puree the pumpkin flesh in a food processor or blender. 

Add sugar, spices, and eggs. Blend well and then add the evaporated milk. Mix until completely incorporated into the pumpkin mixture. 

Pour into prepared pie crust. (If you have any left over mixture, simple grease a baking dish and pour the remaining mixture into the prepared pan and bake it along with the pie. When baked, you will have a custard pudding. 

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes. Cover the crust with foil at this time to prevent burning.

While the pie bakes, prepare the pecan praline topping. 

Topping Directions:

Chop 1/2 cup pecans and set aside. In a saucepan over low heat, melt 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Add pecans and stir until the mixture sizzles, being careful not to burn the butter. The browning process will only take 2 to 3 minutes. 

When pie is beginning to firm and has approximately 15 minutes left to bake, sprinkle pecan praline topping over the pie. Continue baking until butter knife inserted in center comes out clean. 

Serve warm or chilled and top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, as desired. 

Enjoy!

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This is a light, custard-like pumpkin pie, not as dense as the traditional. You may notice when baking with fresh pumpkin, that the resulting color of your pie does not have the typical orange color you may be accustomed to with commercially canned pumpkin. 

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Product Recommendation: We recommend you use Sugar Pie pumpkins for your fresh baking needs - there is no better pumpkin for cooking than Sugar Pie. Small in size, and sweet with a fine texture, it's a favorite for pumpkin pie! 

Heirloom Pumpkin Sugar Pie Seeds