And another thing about pumpkin pie

[Jenise]

As I was mixing up my custard just now (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace AND cloves, take that Mr. Libby!), I was careful to put the cream and pumpkin through the blender but separately add in the eggs and spices. As a kid, the way we could tell Grammy's pumpkin pie from storebought was that on hers you could see the spice specks that rose to the surface (we called them 'freckles'). Most commercially made pies are blander (cinnamon and ginger only, perhaps?), and the industrial way they're blended would smash those other spice specks to smithereens if they were there. As an adult, to my eye it's still the hallmark of an attractive pumpkin pie. The more freckles, the better the pie. My pies are going to lots of 'em!!!

Thanks for the tip. I will attempt to give mine freckles as well.

i guess i don't see why it would make the pie taste better to have the spices on the surface rather than spread throughout. i mix the spices, salt and pumpkin before i do anything else so they WILL be diffused. then i add cream, eggs, etc. i also use freshly grated ginger and some brandy.

[Jenise]

i guess i don't see why it would make the pie taste better to have the spices on the surface rather than spread throughout. i mix the spices, salt and pumpkin before i do anything else so they WILL be diffused. then i add cream, eggs, etc. i also use freshly grated ginger and some brandy.

Oh you DO want the spice flavors throughout. But some of the spices will float to the surface if they're not too fine a powder. That's all I was advocating, which I why I hand-stir them in after I run puree the pumpkin with milk in the blender.