What are your favorite spices to use in a pumpkin pie?

[statsman]

There are a *lot* of suggestions online for what spices people use and their amounts in making a pumpkin pie or a pumpkin pie spice mix they use with many foods. I will say that I've used a pumpkin spice mix in the past (Trader Joe's) that contained lemon peel and cardamom along with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove, and it was just ok.

The traditional recipes seem to call for 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of ginger, and 1/4 tsp of clove per standard pumpkin pie. Some people don't like clove, so they'll add allspice and/or nutmeg instead. Some people don't like that much ginger. Others want more cinnamon in the spice ratios. Some people swear by the addition of mace with the nutmeg. Others want mace instead of nutmeg. The recipes are all over the map.

I will say I don't care for a bland pumpkin pie. I've had those. Seems they are predominately cinnamon and ginger, with a very light touch of any other spice. OTOH, some of these recipes seem heavy with clove, allspice, and/or nutmeg. Based on some smell tests, it appears that nutmeg is not very pleasing to my DW and I. Maybe it smells and tastes different once cooked.

I get that it is personal preference, but I would be grateful to hear any other recipes along with suggestions of what should be included in the spice mix and what to be careful with. Thanks.

 

[Ronstar]

We do the ginger, clove and nutmeg but amp up the cinnamon to 2.5 tsp per pie. Making 2 as I write this

 

[statsman]

We do the ginger, clove and nutmeg but amp up the cinnamon to 2.5 tsp per pie. Making 2 as I write this

My SIL does something similar with the cinnamon. I've actually tried to create a few mixes, but every time I add in nutmeg (small amount), something seems off when both my DW and I smell it. Funny thing is I can replace the nutmeg with mace and it smells much better. Maybe smelling a dry mix is not the same as having it cooked in a pumpkin pie.

 

[pacergal]

If I make a pumpkin pie, I tend to use regular pumpkin pie spice and add bit more cinnamon and glove because those are spices I like.

 

[braumeister]

DW makes a pumpkin pie that even this low carb guy will eat his share of.

1 part clove, 1 part nutmeg, 2 parts ginger, 4 parts cinnamon.
You decide how much to use, but here a part is between ½ and 1 tsp.

Just about any recipe you find will call for much smaller spice amounts.

 

[Amethyst]

I use Vietnamese cinnamon in any recipe where cinnamon is required. It's stronger and sweeter than regular (e.g. McCormicks) cassia cinnamon.

 

[justlikebike]

Just to be weird, I make mine with carrots instead of pumpkin. Just boil and mash some carrots, volume stays the same. I find it has more flavor.

 

[Amethyst]

Carrots seem like an intermediate step to sweet potato pie, which I adore.

Just to be weird, I make mine with carrots instead of pumpkin. Just boil and mash some carrots, volume stays the same. I find it has more flavor.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I made this pie yesterday from NYT Cooking. She says to use butternut squash instead of pumpkin because the stuff in the Libby’s can isn’t really pumpkin but a different hard-to-find squash and butternut is the closest. I used a real pie pumpkin. As far as spices go, the recipe (behind a paywall) uses roughly twice the amounts on the Libby’s can, which is my rule of thumb for any recipe (twice as much). Several comments on the recipe mentioned adding a touch of mace. I haven’t cut into it yet, but it smells amazing.

 

[Gumby]

We use sugar pumpkins from our garden to make the puree. The spices are just cinnamon, ginger and molasses. In my opinion, the key ingredient is a layer of Robertson's Shredless Marmalade spread over the blind-baked crust right before the pumpkin puree is poured in. You could also use apricot preserves, but I prefer the marmalade.

 

[Ronstar]

^ My stomach just growled after reading apricot preserves.

 

[Chuckanut]

I made this pie yesterday from NYT Cooking. She says to use butternut squash instead of pumpkin

The chef who creates recipes for those following the Always Hungry eating plan (bad name for a good plan, IMO) usually recommends adding some butternut squash to things like pumpkin pie. IIRC, she thinks it improves both the flavor and the texture of just about any baked good that uses pumpkin.

 

[Midpack]

DW has latched on to a brûléed maple bourbon pumpkin pie w chocolate crust. It has a touch of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and salt. That’s become our once a year Thanksgiving dessert. Mmmmmmmm…

 

[statsman]

DW makes a pumpkin pie that even this low carb guy will eat his share of.

1 part clove, 1 part nutmeg, 2 parts ginger, 4 parts cinnamon.
You decide how much to use, but here a part is between ½ and 1 tsp.

Just about any recipe you find will call for much smaller spice amounts.

That works out to between 4 and 8 total tsp of spice. Most cookbooks and the Libby can end up at 1.75 total tsp.

This was the first time I ever tried using individual spices, and I ended up at 2 1/8 tsp. Cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice, mace (1/8 tsp each of the later three). A touch more total spice than what many recipes suggest, but far less than yours.

We'll find out later today whether I need more or less spice (family likes "pumpkin" pie at Christmas also). My hunch is it will be more, but I am not so sure we'll get to a total spice of 4 tsp.

As far as spices go, the recipe (behind a paywall) uses roughly twice the amounts on the Libby’s can, which is my rule of thumb for any recipe (twice as much). Several comments on the recipe mentioned adding a touch of mace. I haven’t cut into it yet, but it smells amazing.

Twice the amounts would be 3.5 tsp. That might be closer to where we'll end up. I hope you like the mace. For whatever reason, I can't get past the smell of nutmeg, but I quite like mace, despite being from the same tree.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Add just a dash of cayenne powder too... not enough to add heat but it helps wake things up just a bit.