Last year around Thanksgiving one of my readers emailed and asked if I would like to have her recipe for gluten free, casein free pumpkin pie. That was an extremely easy question to answer! Sue kindly took the time to type up the recipe so that I could share it here on the blog with all of you.
Pumpkin pie is traditionally made with some sort of milk. Evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk are probably the most common. This recipe uses evaporated milk, but you make it at home using the unsweetened form of your preferred non-dairy milk. The recipe calls for rice milk, but I would not hesitate to use a different milk if rice is an issue for you.
Like any new technique, evaporating your own milk may seem a tad intimidating. Don’t let that stop you. All that you’re doing is heating the milk to a high enough temperature that the water evaporates. Just keep a watchful eye on it, a spoon handy, and be patient.
Instructions
by Sue Robinson
Yield: filling for 2 pies
- 4 c. unsweetened rice milk, reduced in volume
- 1 lg (29 oz) can pumpkin
- 3/4 c. honey
- 3/4 t. sea salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. cloves
- 1/2 tsp. ginger
- Additional 2 c. unsweetened rice milk
- 4 eggs
Directions for Evaporated Milk
:
In a large wide-mouthed saucepan, reduce the quart of rice milk to 1/3–or less–of it’s original volume. Do this by bringing the milk to a boil, and then turning the heat down so that the milk simmers.
The speed of the process will depend on how much you turn the heat down. If you turn it down very low then you won’t have to stir very often and can work on other things, but the total cook time may be a couple of hours. Speed it up by increasing the temperature (still keeping the milk at a simmer), but you’ll be more closely tied to the stove for stirring. A non-stick pan can be helpful for preventing scorching, but is not required.
Directions for Pie
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the evaporated milk and all of the other ingredients, except the eggs, and mix well.
- Separately beat the eggs and then temper them by adding in some of the hot pie filling (by the tablespoonful) while you continue to stir the eggs. Once the temperature of the eggs has been gradually raised, you can stir the eggs into the large bowl of pie filling without risk of cooking your eggs.
- Pour the filling into two unbaked Easy Gluten Free Pie Crust Recipe. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then 350 degrees for 1 1/4 hours, or until nicely browned on top.
Note: This recipe can be served without a crust. Just pour the filling into 2 greased pie plates and bake for 1 1/4 hours. Another option is to bake it as a custard in greased mugs or custard cups…which are then set in a pan of water (1/2 to 3/4 inch water) to bake.
I make my gluten-free, dairy-free pie with almond milk. No need to evaporate, and I add nutmeg as well as the other spices. My pies come out just like grandma’s, and no fuss. 😀
Good tip altho it is much easier (and more delicious and healthy!) to just use a can of coconut milk!–the unsweetened variety. You can make your own also, and very quickly. Coconut and pumpkin pair very well together but if you don’t want that flavor meld, use a brand like Thai that doesn’t have a strong coconut flavor. The Let’s Do Organic brand has not only the rich coconut flavor (and the perfect fat) but it is also BPA free. I did this last year and it is now our favorite pumpkin pie recipe!
(And I hope you’re NOT using Teflon non-stick!!!!)
Good points! I did make this recipe last year when Sue sent it to me, and I thought it was fun to make the evaporated milk. I’d really never considered that one could do that, the I wanted to do it at least once, just for kicks.
I tend to use a non-dairy milk in my pumpkin and sweet potato pies, because my grandmother did. I imagine that there are others whose family recipes calls for evaporate milk, so they’ll appreciate being able to get as close to possible as the “real” recipe as they can.
I appreciate your hard work in compiling the gluten free, casin free, and all the other recipes that you have developed to help us that need them. But it takes so much paper to print them off.
What size pie tin did you use? I used 9 inch pans and had extras. I made the custards with the extras and tried it. We found the bottom to be watery and think that the pies are the same way, Is it possible to fix this?