Grandma's Pumpkin Pie

Food Memories

Most of us have that special dish that brings back memories. Lori recently posted about Minnesota Funeral Food. I don't remember anything about food when relatives passed away, but I remember my grandma's pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin pie was baked for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. My grandma, Lillian Haag Schatz (we called her Mayo), made these pies until she could no longer bake. The recipe was passed down to Mom. After Mayo and Mom were gone, I was responsible for making the pie.

I’ve never tasted pumpkin pie like Mayo’s. When I finally tasted regular pumpkin pie at restaurants and at friends' houses, I was surprised to discover that most pumpkin pies are really sweet and dense. Mayo's pie is lighter in texture due to beating the eggs separately and less sweet. Replacing some of the milk with whiskey makes it a bit tart. I've introduced this pie to friends and colleagues over the years – some liked it, others didn't. But to me, this is pumpkin pie. Both my dad and Aunt Irene always looked forward to my pumpkin pie. They liked my cherry pie, but they requested the pumpkin. Irene, who had diabetes, always would have me cut "just a sliver" as she controlled her condition with her diet.

I’ve updated Mayo’s recipe to add leaves.

I always used canned pumpkin, and it worked great. One year, I tried using a pumpkin from the store labeled "pie pumpkin." It wasn't very tasty - pretty bland. Fast forward many years, when Dave decided to grow Long Neck Pumpkins for the pies, I wondered if I’d have the same experience. But I was pleasantly surprised! Check out this post if you'd like to see how Dave makes the puree for our pies.

As the years passed, I made a few changes to her recipe. While Dad was still alive, I'd increase the whiskey to ½ cup for a richer taste. The first time Dad tasted it, he loved it. I still make it that way unless I'm taking it somewhere I don't know the people's tastes. Then, I'll use ¼ cup.

The original recipe called for ¾ cup of milk and ¼ cup of whiskey, which I'd probably recommend you start with if you aren't used to the taste of whiskey in your pie. However, if you want to leave out the whiskey, use one cup of milk instead. You can also use any milk you like. We now use unsweetened plain almond milk in every recipe that calls for milk.

The only other change I made from Mayo's original recipe was decreasing the salt to ¼ teaspoon.

I am sure my grandma and Mom made their pie crusts from scratch. I've done that, and they are so good, but for the calories, it's just not worth it. Here are the ingredients and the directions:

• 2 cups canned pumpkin

• 3 eggs, separated

• 1/2 cup almond milk or any milk

• 1/2 cup whiskey

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 tsp cinnamon, ground

• 1/2 tsp ginger, ground

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground

• 1 - 9″ frozen pie crust, baked according to package directions

1. Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

2. Beat egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Add pumpkin, milk, whisky, sugar, salt and spices. Stir until combined.

3. Beat egg whites in an electric mixer until stiff. Fold into pumpkin mixture.

4. Pour filling into the baked pie shell. Bake at 450F degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 and continue baking for 45-50 minutes.

There were other pies—cherry, banana cream, and chocolate—but pumpkin always was the most popular at those dinners. The smell of this pie brings back so many memories of sitting around the table after a large dinner. Even though we were stuffed, we would take our forks and slice through the soft, fluffy custard to end at the crisp crust. Yum!

Do you have a favorite family dessert?