Borden's Pumpkin Pie- Vintage vs. Modern

My husband was going through his sale books and he found a 1935 Borden's Condensed Milk recipe booklet. I was surprised to see that the pumpkin pie recipe in it is very similar to the one you see in current magazines. Here it is the vintage recipe:

1 cup steamed, strained pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 eggs

1 1/3 cups (1 can) Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup water

Unbaked pie crust (9-inch)

Thoroughly mix steamed, strained and mashed pumpkin, salt , ginger, cloves, cinnamon, eggs Eagle Brand and water. Pour into unbaked pie crust . Bake in 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 and bake about 35 minutes longer, or until the filling is set.

Here is the current recipe:

1 (15- ounce can pumpkin (about 2 cups)

1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk pumpkin, Eagle Brand, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 and continue baking 34 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch in from crust comes out clean.

I think I might try baking a pie from each recipe to see what the difference is.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rochelle, thank you for posting this recipe. I had "lost" it in our recent move.
I have made many pumpkin pies in 40 years, but this is our favorite.--smooth, creamy and simple with perfect blend of spices.
Joan

Anonymous said...

Rochelle,

Last year I tried the same experiment - baking a pumpkin pie completely from scratch, cutting, gutting, boiling, and straining fresh pumpkin vs using canned pumpkin. My experience was that while the old-fashioned way was a lot more work and mess, the resultant pie was not really distinguishable from the same recipe made with canned pumpkin! I was surprised, and spent a good deal of time looking for ways to use leftover pumpkin.

Anonymous said...

Very Interesting!
Thank You!

Carol Bentley said...

My husband's grandmother, Mildred Maddocks Bentley founded the Good Housekeeping Institute. She wrote or edited most of the early cookbooks. She also did side jobs promoting food products via pamphlets such as; Bordens milk, Armour meats and Rumford baking powder. I have a small collection of her pamphlets. Do you have any featuring her?