I love pumpkin pie – it’s one of my all time favourite pies. But that’s pretty much it. You see, where I come from, pumpkin is not such a big thing. Yes, we harvest it in Autumn and we make pumpkin pie out of it, but we stop there. 

Driven by all social media going pumpkin-crazy, I decided to figure it out how to make homemade pumpkin pie spice puree, since you can’t find it that easily around here. Also, I like to know what’s in my food.

Related: Eastern European Pumpkin Pie Recipe

You’ll obviously need two things for this cooking component:

• the pumpkin puree
• the pumpkin pie spice

I found the tiniest pumpkin and it was perfect. We are just two tiny people, so unless I’m home and cooking for The Family, then it wouldn’t make sense to buy a gigantic pumpkin.

You might call this a butternut squash, but it’s still a pumpkin to us. As I said, we’re not that crazy about it – so everything orange, that is not a sweet potato, will be a sort of pumpkin. 

Roast the Pumpkin

I think roasting is the easiest way to cook the pumpkin. It doesn’t require lots of effort from your side and the taste is amazing.

Simply cut the pumpkin in half (or 3-4 cm thick slices if it’s large), put it in a baking tray and forget about it in a 175 C preheated oven. By the time you remember about it – that should be about an hour – it should be smooth and ready to puree. Also – quick tip – use a fork to pierce the pumpkin to allow the steam to get in, to make the roast process better. 

Take it out and let the pumpkin cool for a few minutes – it will be easier to handle. Take the skin off and put the pulp in a strainer.

You can use a blender or a food processor to puree the roasted pumpkin, but in case you don’t have any of these, use a strainer and a fork to make sure you get the smoothest pumpkin puree ever. Quick tip: if you use a strainer, you can also use your hands –  reaaally satisfying. 

That’s pretty much for the pumpkin puree. Don’t add any sugar – it’s sweet enough already. You can leave it as it is and you have homemade pumpkin puree with minimal effort. 

The Pumpkin Pie Spice

For the homemade pumpkin pie spice you’ll need the spices that scream ‘autumn’, meaning:

• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• the tiniest pinch of ginger 
• a pinch of ground black pepper (shocker!)

I do really well with nutmeg and cinnamon, so I added more. Cloves are super strong for me and I can’t stand ginger (I only have it in ginger shots). You can’t find too easy allspice around here, so I totally skipped it, but I added a pinch of fresh ground pepper for some extra spiciness.

Related: The Ginger Shot That Will Keep Cold and Flu Away

This is what I love about making your own spice mixes: you can add as much as you want, lower your less favourite spice, increase another and you’re getting the best spice mix!

The Pumpkin Pie Spice Puree

The most exciting part, yet the easiest is the last one: mixing the pumpkin puree with the spices. I strongly recommend to start with a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice first. It might be the perfect blend for you, but you won’t like a overly spicy pumpkin pie spice puree, won’t you?

Store the homemade pumpkin puree in an air tight container up to one week. Ultimately you can add it in jars, sterilise them and have pumpkin pie spice puree all winter long. You can use it for pies, lattes, porridge, pancakes and whatever pumpkin flavoured dessert your heart desire.

Enjoy!