LIBBY'S Famous Pumpkin Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is heavy cream or evaporated milk better for pumpkin pie? ›

During my testing of pumpkin pies, I tried lots of different milk options – heavy whipping cream, regular milk (I used 2% in my testing), sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. Ultimately, I found heavy whipping cream to be the best. It produced the creamiest pie in my opinion.

They are the same product. Both canned pumpkin puree and pie filling are useful, shelf-stable ingredients that can help speed up your kitchen prep time. Just remember that puree is unsweetened, while pie filling contains sugar and spices.

While many recipes call for it, you can absolutely make an outstanding pumpkin pie without evaporated milk. If your recipe calls for one can of evaporated milk (as most do), you can substitute 1 ½ cups of cream or half and half, or a combination of the two. You can also use milk (any kind from whole to skim).

For a guaranteed browned bottom, prebake the pie crust

You may want to cover the edges with a pie shield or strips of aluminum foil, but the bottom will remain perfectly brown and crisp — not burned.

Pies with too much evaporated milk formed blisters on top.

Though the interior of the filling had a great, creamy texture. The flavor was ever-so-slightly muted and had a hint of milkiness to it.

Evaporated milk is a canned, shelf-stable milk product with less water than regular milk. Thus, it's thicker and creamier than milk and can be an easy lower-calorie alternative to heavy cream in some recipes. It may also be fortified with vitamin D and other nutrients.

Evaporated milk is just regular milk with about half the water removed (that's the evaporated part). Pumpkin pie is made from (that's right, you guessed it) pumpkin. Pumpkin is already very high in water, about 90%. I think if you added regular milk to pumpkin, you would not achieve the desired texture.

A combination of half-and-half and butter makes the best all-around heavy cream substitute. Both heavy cream and half-and-half are made from cream — the distinction is that half-and-half is a mixture of cream and milk and has about a third as much as fat.

Although it may be tempting, because of the added sugar, you should generally avoid substituting sweetened condensed milk in any recipe that calls for evaporated. If you don't have evaporated milk available, it's possible to substitute a cup of light cream, or you can make your own.

But don't dock it (docking is aerating the crust before baking by poking it with the tines of a fork). This will cause the custard to seep out into the bottom crust, defeating that whole "flaky" thing you were going for. The test kitchen's vessel of choice for pie is a 9" glass Pyrex pan.

How do you keep the bottom crust of pumpkin pie from getting soggy? ›

Sprinkle dried breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes, or other types of cereal, on the bottom crust before filling and baking in the oven.

Let the pie cool on a rack (leave it on the baking sheet) to room temperature, a few hours. Slice or refrigerate until ready to serve. Make Ahead: Pumpkin pie can be made one day ahead of time and refrigerated.

Evaporated milk: A can of evaporated milk lends richness and helps thicken the pie filling.

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed.

For a creamy taste without the cream, try evaporated (canned) milk! Evaporated milk is made by removing water from fresh milk and then heating it. Heating the milk gives it the creamy, slightly cooked taste and darker colour. When mixed with an equal amount of water, it can be substituted for fresh milk in recipes.

It makes an excellent direct swap for half-and-half in many instances, but keep in mind that evaporated milk has less fat and more protein than half-and-half.