Fannie Farmer's Old-Fashioned American Pumpkin Pie!

By the way, the orange napkin and cake slice belonged to my darling grandmother Josie!

Hello, darlings!
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I excitedly present Fannie Merritt Farmer’s good old-fashioned American pumpkin pie!

You see, I discovered this frightfully fabulous and easy recipe in my 1909 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book - How Spiffing! 

Yet rather interestingly, the origins of pumpkin pie tumble all the way back to the 1500’s, where Medieval cooks served stewed pumpkin, sweetened with sugar, livened up with spice, and enwreathed with pastry – I say, mouth-drooling scrumptious! 
 
Also, there are many early recorded recipes of pumpkin pie, one of which has a French connection - Ooh la la! - Tourte of Pompion - created by Francois Pierre La Varenne in 1653. Then of course, as the years zoomed by, during 1796 a recipe for pumpkin pie appeared in the first known American cookbook by Amelia Simmons, which is very similar to Fannie’s version, although it requires scalded milk, eight eggs, and one may add grated lemon-peel instead of spices. 

Look at this amazing pumpkin patch! I took this photo a few years ago whilst in America (Washington State)

Oh, and I must say, to all my fellow Brits who are a little shy of pumpkin pie, "Don't be darlings, as I'm absolutely sure you'll adore it!" The texture is very similar to cheesecake, and it tastes utterly divine - just one teeny-weeny mouthful and I guarantee you'll be bouncing around culinary heaven!

​Now, darlings, as you're aware pumpkins are a big thing in the US, but sadly the season has passed (September to October) - "Aaah, what a shame," I hear you squawk!
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But nevertheless, this classic sweet dish of creamy pumpkin and spices will, of course, be the dessert of choice on every American's Thanksgiving table! But I dare say, in this instance, I believe many will succumb to the convenience of canned pumpkin puree, as Thanksgiving falls in November.  

Perfectly baked pumpkins!

But luckily darlings, here in the UK we're 'smack bang' in the middle of pumpkin season (October to December) - so it's pumpkins galore! And so, one may purchase their round, rippled, orange ball of deliciousness from their local supermarket, farm shop, or maybe you have an allotment plot and grow your own! 

​​Whatever the case, it's nice to know that pumpkin pie has become increasingly popular here in the UK. However, it's just recently come to my attention that many folk pay over the odds for a readymade pumpkin pie at somewhere like Whole Foods Market - an entire tenner or more, I believe! Well, darlings, that's absolute daylight robbery - don't ya think?

Go on Miss Windsor, give it some welly!

Therefore, I invite you to have a jolly good go at recreating Fannie's version - with a bit of a Miss Windsor twist, of course! as it’s a fairly cheap dish to make and will only cost you £4 or £5 in total. 

​Darlings, and I must say, in this day and age, the kind of pumpkin pie that one has become accustomed to often includes spices such a nutmeg, cloves, and allspice, however, Fannie’s version only requires cinnamon and ginger.

Miss Windsor's ready to blend together all the pumpkin pie ingredients!

Yet, having re-created Fannie's old-fashioned pumpkin pie a couple of times, I must admit it tasted rather bland - my apologies, Fannie, no offence taken I hope!

​So, in order to 'jazz it up' a little I used a heaped teaspoon of ginger and cinnamon, plus a flat teaspoon of allspice. Oh, and please note that I used sweet cinnamon instead of the plain old boring type!

Miss Windsor's short-crust pastry ready for the oven!

Oh, darlings, and rather worryingly, nowadays the addition of condensed or evaporated milk often takes precedence over traditional plain old cream and milk– a culinary crime, indeed! So please do take heed my dears, and refrain from falling victim to such culinary nonsense – the old-fashioned way is the best way!  

Fancy a slice of Fannie Farmer's Old-Fashioned American Pumpkin Pie?

Darlings, now it's my intention to encourage all you keen culinary enthusiasts of yesteryear to ‘cook from scratch’. So, without further ado, hop on board and join Miss Windsor for a merry jaunt down memory lane, where you'll learn how to recreate Fannie's traditional recipe for pumpkin pie - using homemade pumpkin puree, I hope!
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Oh, and before you forget, here's Miss Windsor's recipe for:

 HOMEMADE PUMPKIN PUREE

Miss Windsor's Homemade Pumkin Puree!

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY MISS WINDSOR 

Miss Windsor Presents: Fannie Farmer’s Old-Fashioned American Pumpkin Pie!

Preparation time: 20 mins
​Cooking time: 1 hr
Serves 8-10 delightful guests!

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/2 cups (400g) pureed pumpkin
• 1 cup (140g) brown sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon of sweet cinnamon
• 1 heaped teaspoon of ginger 
• 1 flat teaspoon of allspice 
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 eggs
• 12 US fl oz (350 ml) milk
• 4 US fl oz (125 ml) double 0r heavy whipping cream
• short-crust pastry 

Equipage

• a large pie dish or baking tin - approx. 22cm / 8.5 inches 

​Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200*C / 180*C Fan / 390*F / gas mark 6.
2. First off, line your lightly greased pie dish or baking tin with short-crust pastry, then fill with baking beans and bake blind for approximately 20 minutes. Or if you don't have any baking beans to hand, brush with whisked egg instead - but make sure the pastry is pushed firmly into every crevice of your tin! 
3. Then immediately reduce oven temperature to 180*C / 160*C Fan / 350*F / gas mark 4. 
4. Darlings, as per Fannie’s instruction above, simply mix all the ingredients together in the order given. 
5. However, before you transfer the prepared mixture to the pastry case, take a thin strip of foil and wrap around the pastry crust (outer edge) in order to prevent it from over browning and going hard. 
6. Now, with a steady hand pour the mixture into the pastry case, then place the tin on the middle shelf of your oven. Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the filling has set in the middle.
7. Voila! You’ve successfully made Fannie Farmer's Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Pie from scratch – absolutely, bloomin’ marvellous! 
8. Darlings, best serve when cool, with a dollop of whipped cream.