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The Original Pumpkin Pie – The Way The Pilgrims Made It

by 71 Comments

I am SO excited about this recipe!!

Pumpkin Pie may have been at the original Thanksgiving in America, however it was not the pie we know it to be today.  393 years ago at the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth (Massachusetts) flour, so that would have made it impossible to make any sort of pie crust. Plus, settlers hadn’t yet come up with an oven for baking. According to some accounts, early English settlers in North America improvised by hollowing out pumpkins, filling the shells with milk, honey, and spices to make a custard, then they roasted them whole in hot ashes.  As a matter of fact pumpkin pie as we know it didn’t appear in an American cookbook until the early 19th century.

So I set out to make The Original Pumpkin Pie – The Way The Pilgrims Made It and was ecstatic with the results!

This is easy to make and impressive to set out.  This actually tastes like creme brulee, its delicious (which is why allowing the top to brown is an excellent idea!  And guess what, since a pumpkin is your “dish”, when you are finished just throw it out! Whoop!  One less dish to clean on Turkey Day!

If you are looking for a dish to add to your Thanksgiving gathering this year, one with a great story, history and a wow factor, why not try whipping my modern take on The Original Pumpkin Pie – The Way The Pilgrims Made It

 

4.0 from 9 reviews
The Original Pumpkin Pie - The Way The Pilgrims Made It
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 small pumpkin (4-5 inches in height and 18 inches in diameter, sugar pumpkins work great)
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs plus 4 egg yolks
  • ½ TBS vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
  • Pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Prepare your pumpkin by scooping out the seeds and pulp, place it on a baking sheet, do not put the top of the pumpkin (stem) on the sheet just yet.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  3. In a mixing bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until combined.
  4. Add the heavy cream, cornstarch, and salt and whisk until fully combined.
  5. Pour mixture into your prepared pumpkin (allowing about ¾ of an inch space between the filling and the top of the pumpkin and begin baking it.
  6. Bake at 400 degrees uncovered.
  7. After 15 minutes, cover the top of the pumpkin loosely with foil (don't let it touch the top of the custard or it will stick and "ruin" the appearance) and bake another 15 minutes.
  8. Lower oven temp to 375, place the top of the pumpkin on the tray and continue baking for 15 minutes more. Remover the foil and bake an additional 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the custard comes out mostly clean.
  9. Turn off the oven, allow the pumpkin to cool for an hour, then place it in your cold garage (loosely covered with wrap or foil) or your refrigerator and allow the custard to set 6 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, scoop out custard into small dishes (you can scrape the sides a bit as you scoop it out if you choose to scrape off some of the cooked pumpkin for additional flavor, I am sure the Pilgrims wasted nothing).
 
This makes an impressive dessert offering, one of these will serve 4-5 people so you could make a few to run down the center of your dessert table.
 
Looking for more Thanksgiving Dessert Ideas?  
 
Check out these 10 Mini Thanksgiving Desserts!  Your guests will love these!  Embrace the Mini!!
 
 
Wishing your and your family a delicious & Happy Thanksgiving!
xo

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Native Americans actually had this long before Contact using eggs from raided nests of both fowl or reptiles and maple syrup along with nut flour.

      Reply

    • Thank you Oxendine!!! “Poor Pilgrims”…give me a break. Much respect for the ingenuity, intelligence and skills of the native Americans.

      Reply

    • The so called poor Pilgrims had tons of awesome foods from the Native Americans here in the “New World” including amazing things to make amazing desserts!

      Reply

      • Native Americans used and taught the White Man many ways to thicken everything from soups and stews to even sweet desserts – this included all kinds of nut meal from acorns, walnuts, pecans and more as well as corn meal.

        Reply

  22. Did you mean an 8 inch pumpkin? 18 inches in diameter is not a small pumpkin and the approximately 4 cups of custard won’t come close to filling it.

    Reply

      • Ok, I see. 🙂 I have made this two times since finding this recipe. I used two small round pie pumpkins because that was all I could find. It was great and everyone loved it. I am making them for Thanksgiving also. What I wonder is if I could assemble the pumpkins and custard the day before and put them in the fridge over night and bake them the next morning? Do you think that could be a problem?

        Reply

        • Oh great Pam! I have not done that, the only issue I can see is condensation…So make sure it/they are completely cooled prior to refrigerating and be careful if you cover the top…You want that gorgeous brown to stay…It’s yummy! Happy Thanksgiving!

          Reply

    • They probably did Pam, I am sure they wasted nothing! I do scrape the edges a bit and get some of the tender pumpkin mingling with the custard, mmmm!

      Reply

  25. I have to admit, the recipe confused me. I kept waiting for the part of the instructions where you took some of the pumpkin you scooped out and did something with it or added it into the sugar/cream/eggs/salt mixture. So the pumpkin shell is basically for decoration?…any pumpkin flavor comes only from the mixture being cooked inside the pumpkin?

    Reply

    • As I serve it, I do scoop out some of the cooked pumpkin to include with the custard. I am sure the Pilgrims wasted nothing. Depending on who is eating it, some enjoy the pumpkin pulp mixed in and some just want the custard.

      Reply

    • After mine cooled, I sliced the whole pumpkin like a pie. Each piece is like a wedge and you can just pick it up and eat it, pumpkin and custard together. It’s very good. Just don’t eat the rind, of course. 😉 My friends and family loved it and thought it was fun.

      Reply

  26. Made this recipe yesterday – absolutely LOVED it! I’ve never been a fan of how sickly sweet most traditional pre-made pumpkin pies are, and I loved how creamy and subtly sweet this “pumpkin custard” was. The presentation is also awesome! As some other people commented, I recommend scraping all of the cooked pumpkin out along with the custard as you eat it – it turns into a delicious squash that has a great texture to eat along with the custard.

    All I changed about the recipe was that I added about a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, and I microwaved the pumpkin for about 5 minutes before cutting it so that it was really easy to carve the stem off. I only have a couple of recommendations for improvement: 1) I didn’t find any use for the stem, and would recommend just tossing that. 2) Save the pumpkin seeds and roast them with oil and salt after for a delicious snack. 3) Step 3 of the recipe should really be broken down into a lot more steps – the giant paragraph was difficult to follow and actually contains a lot of smaller steps.

    I’ve already got my 2nd pumpkin so I can make this again, and this time I’m going to make a crunchy oatmeal crumble to sprinkle over the top.

    Reply

    • So glad you made it and enjoyed it Jill! Thanks for all of your recommendations as well. I will adjust the recipe, It was an older one before my site converted to a different recipe system. I just haven’t gotten around to updating all of the older recipes. Happy Thanksgiving!

      Reply

  27. This sounds delightful and I’m about to go to the store for ingredients. As a historian, however, I’m very curious what sources you found this recipe, or description of it, in?

    Reply

  28. After you turn off the oven, do you leave the pumpkin in the oven to cool off for an hour before putting it in the fridge/garage overnight?

    Reply

    • Yes, that is what I do…I let it sit in the oven with the door open to cool down. Just jiggle it, you don’t want liquid…Just a juggle. Cook time varies by pumpkin size.

      Reply

  29. Thank you Coleen!

    A couple of years ago, I was looking for authentic pilgrim/Cherokee recipes as we are descended from an original Jamestoen planter and a Cherokee. I remembered reading that the pumpkin pie they enjoyed (as well as George Washington!) was a custard baked in the pumpkin. I just went to the store to buy the ingredients for what I thought would make a good creams brûlée and was going to wing it, but having your successful recipie will help me avoid the pitfalls of re-inventi g the wheel. Thank you!

    Reply

  30. I made this a couple of days ago (test run for the big day) and it was a hit! Plan on making it again, but looking for advice…. my pumpkin cam out wrinkly and did not hold its original shape. Anybody else experience this or have some tips to avoid it?

    Reply

  32. I am Baking this as we speak for Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow !! i sprinkled a tad bit of ground cinnamon on top 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!!

    Reply

  33. I made 2 of these for the feast today. Daring I know for an untested (by the family) recipe lol. I wanted to add the novelty and history aspect to remind the family what the day is about. I cut the sugar in half and used an equal amount of honey, one I left vanilla only and the other I added pumpkin pie spice. I did prefer the vanilla only and eating the pumpkin flesh along with the custard is a must! They were amazing! I will make this again, Thank you for sharing the recipe 🙂

    Reply

  34. Flour was available at Plimoth Plantation ( they grew their own wheat) and they cooked pies and breads on the hearth over hot coals in Dutch Ovens. It is a cute recipe for custard in a pumpkin, but the people of Plimoth Colony would have likely eaten their pumpkin stewed or mashed. Pies were mostly savories and made from leftover meats and veg from the last meal and served for breakfast or lunch. https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2014/10/07/plimoth-making-bread-like-pilgrims-and-wampanoag/ByZ0tdnSG6wbx2rFma9FwN/story.html

    Reply

  35. i suppose i am confused on step 8. are you turning the pumpkin upside down and baking it once you’ve lowered the oven temperature to 375?

    Reply

  37. I made two of these last night. I am bringing them to my students so that they can compare and contrast them with contemporary pumpkin pie. I taste tested one this morning, and it was delicious. I spooned out some of the custard and made sure to scrape some pumpkin meat with it. Awesome. The only thing that didn’t work perfectly was that the customer and collapsed a bit. It is not flat across the top like in the picture. The texture and everything is still perfect, but what can I do to avoid collapsing in the future?

    Reply

    • That’s SO cool to hear Miggie! Maybe bake it a little longer so the custard puffs up a bit? OR fill it to the tipy top. Hope the kids enjoy the edible history lesson!!

      Reply

    • I saw this on a tv show last night. Instead of a round pumpkin, they used a larger & squat pumpkin. After the top was removed, it looked to be no higher than 4”. That should solve the problem. Glad to hear it turned out well. I hope to try it also.

      Reply

  38. How do you know this is the way the pilgrims did it? I am a historical interpreter and work in a Victorian kitchen. I made this dish at home yesterday. LOVED it. I want to make it at the museum, but must have primary source documentation. Would you share the resource where you found this recipe, please? Thanks!

    Reply

  39. I have made this a few times.

    We first used small sugar pumpkins for individual servings/ servings for two. They were beautiful and delicious. Then I experimented using a large Cinderella pumpkin and the walls collapsed. It was still delicious but unappetizing. It looked gross.

    Just a word to the wise…use the sugar pumpkin as suggested or experiment in advance of serving to actual guests:D

    Reply

  40. I don’t know what I did wrong 😭 I followed the directions to a T. It came out runny very runny. Are you sure only 1 teaspoon cornstarch?

    Reply

    • Oh no Jennifer, sorry to hear that. And yes, that is all I use. Maybe you needed to keep it in the oven longer until the top was just a bit jiggly prior to removal. I know pumpkin dimensions vary.

      Reply

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