Jonathan King and Jim Stott Photography by Jim Stott

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Pumpkin Custard Pie

Serves 6 1 ready-to-bake pie crust, pre-cooked according to directions 2 cups heavy cream 2 egg yolks and 4 whole eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup Stonewall Kitchen Maple Pumpkin Butter Preheat oven to 325°F. Heat cream in a small, heavy saucepan. Warm thoroughly but do not simmer. Remove from heat and stir gradually into beaten eggs. Add Maple Pumpkin Butter and mix well. Pour custard into pre-baked pie shell. Bake approximately 35-45 minutes or until custard is set. Insert a knife or toothpick—it should come out clean. Cool before serving.

When we began to look for information about pumpkins for this article we were amazed at the sheer number of bits and pieces written about this popular fruit. From the history of the largest one ever grown (a 1,469 pounder grown in North Carolina in 2005), to recipes, to the fable of the first jack-o’-lantern from Ireland centuries ago, there are a lot of people interested in the common pumpkin (technically squashes, pumpkins are fruits rather than vegetables).

We love cooking with pumpkin—breads, soups, pies, spicy pumpkin seeds and custards. The list goes on and on. Our pumpkin products made at Stonewall Kitchen are always top sellers—everything from Pumpkin Pancakes to Maple Pumpkin Butter are all favorites with our customers. Maybe it’s the aroma that appeals to people or maybe it is just simply the great sweet taste of this versatile fruit. It’s almost a bonus that pumpkins are full of potassium and Vitamin A, and that their seeds make a delicious snack full of nutrients.

Apparently there is debate about where those first seeds came from. Many historians believe that the pumpkin is native to North and South America and that the explorers brought back seeds on their return trip to Europe. Other reports have the squash family originating in Greece (the word there for pumpkin is “pepom”).

We were able to find out that early Americans used pumpkins in many ways. Native Americans dried strips of the pumpkin shell and wove them into mats. They also roasted pieces of pumpkin in the open fire and ate them. The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes. Years later, pumpkin was used as an ingredient in the pie’s crust more than for the filling. Early settlers found many uses for their harvest. They believed that a paste made from the pumpkin flesh lightened freckles and cured the pain from a snakebite!

We wanted to pass along the story behind the history of the jack-o’-lantern. Hundreds of years ago there apparently was a man living in Ireland called Stingy Jack. One evening Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. And, true to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and ran off from his bill. The next year, Jack tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. Then Jack carved a cross into the tree's bark to keep the Devil stranded up in the tree.

Soon after, Jack died but God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the tricks Jack had played on him, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” or simply “Jack O’Lantern.”

Be sure to visit Keene, New Hampshire, on Saturday, October 21 to see the best jack-o’-lanterns around. The town holds the official Guinness World Record for the Most Jack-o’-Lanterns in One Place at One Time. Held every year, the Festival has become a popular event and may be even more so this year, now that the pumpkin is officially New Hampshire’s state fruit. For more information, visit pumpkinfestival.org.

Enjoy!


Jonathan King and Jim Stott are co-owners of Stonewall Kitchen, an award-winning, nationally recognized specialty food manufacturing company headquartered in York, Maine. Natives of New England, both Jonathan and Jim are avid gardeners and cooks who have been featured on numerous television cooking shows. They are authors of the Stonewall Kitchen Cookbook and co-authors with Kathy Gunst of Stonewall Kitchen Harvest: Celebrating the Bounty of the Seasons.