Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Perfectly spiced and not too calorific, this wonderful pumpkin pie is the perfect ending to any Thanksgiving dinner. Flute the pastry high, because there’s plenty of filling. The recipe comes from Royal City Foods Ltd., a Canadian company that dates to 1913. The company is now owned by a larger company based in the US and Canada. The bigger company has tinkered slightly with Royal City’s original pumpkin pie recipe. I’ve published the tried-and-true original … I want only the best, and this is it!
Classic Pumpkin Pie:
Pastry for 1-crust 9-inch pie (see Note)
1 - 13 oz. (398 mL) can of pumpkin (1-¾ c.)
¾ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. mace (you can substitute nutmeg, but mace has a slightly different flavor)
1-¼ tsp. ginger
Dash of powdered cloves
¾ c. light brown sugar
2 large eggs
½ c. evaporated milk
¾ c. milk, scalded
Lightly sweetened (or unsweetened) whipped cream, as garnish
Prepare my Oct. 24, 2011 recipe for Bride’s Pastry, or make or buy your own favorite pastry. Line a deep 9-inch pie pan with pastry, fluting the edge high as the filling is generous. Freeze the crust 20 min. Combine pumpkin, salt, spices, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat eggs together with evaporated milk. Stir egg mixture into pumpkin mixture. Add scalded milk all at once, stirring just until blended. Pour into chilled pie shell. 
Preheat oven to 450 deg. F. Bake filled, chilled pie shell 20 min. Reduce heat to 350 deg. F., baking a further 30-35 min. Cool to room temperature, serving each slice with a dollop of softly whipped cream or Cinnamon Whipped Cream (see Index).

No whipped cream to top your pie? Substitute 1 c. dairy sour cream plus 2 tbsp. confectioners sugar (icing sugar) for each cup you require.

7 comments:

  1. My great Grandmother, my Grandma and my mother used this classic old recipe and I use it still today. There can can be no replacement for this recipe for a pumpkin pie filling.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Violet, your note thrills me! I have many different recipes for pumpkin pie: This one's head and shoulders above the rest! Thank you for seconding my opinion, Dollink! xox Nicole

      Delete
  2. Oct. 8, 2016
    Here I am visiting in Toronto, and I am asked to bring pumpkin pie to Thanksgiving dinner. Oh dear, my Royal City recipe, at home (Vancouver), still on original can label - what to do. Try Google and low and behold here is the recipe. Thank-you Nicole for publishing it. I will have to check out your other recipes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So sweet of you to tell me that! Yes, there are many pumpkin pie recipes, but this one's my favorite, too. xox Nicole

      Delete
  3. I lost my recipe and was going nuts trying to find it. Thank you for posting, I have used this recipe for 50 years. <3

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are you sure this is a true pre-tinkering around with version of the recipe? My sister has this recipe off a late 60s/early 70s era (pre-metrification) can of Royal City Pumpkin, and it's not exactly like this one. It calls for a 14 oz. can of pumpkin, and uses only 3/4 teaspoons of ginger. It also makes no mention of nutmeg being an alternative to mace, at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still have the original Royal City pumpkin pie recipe. You are right UNKNOWN. Though Nicole's recipe is close, it is still not the original that Royal City used when the plant was in New Westminister BC. I must admit however, Nicole's recipe is very close to the original.

      Delete

Want to find a long-lost favorite recipe? Want to submit one of yours, or simply leave a comment? Always happy to hear from you!