What is the purpose of evaporated milk in pumpkin pie?

Question

I always use the recipe on the can of pumpkin and it seems to call for too much evaporated milk. When I mix it, it splatters everywhere and is so runny. The pie always comes out tasting great, but I hate the mess. What would happen if I cut back the amount of evap. milk it calls for?

Answer 1

It's what gives the pie it's creamy texture....it will likely be drier and not quite as rich tasting.

Answer 2

Pumpkin pie is generally considered to be a type of custard pie. Custard is generally made with milk and eggs, and sugar if it's a desert custard. So I guess it wouldn't be a custard if you left out the milk. You might simply try reducing the amount of evaporated milk. Try 3/4 or 7/8 as much as the recipe recommends and see if you like the results better.
By the way, I once compared the recipe on the can with a pumpkin pie recipe from Fannie Farmer's 1890's cookbook. The recipe on the can had 3 times as much sugar. With all the discussion these days of how we're getting too many carbs in our diets, this is one place where one could cut back on the sugar and still have a tasty desert.

Answer 3

It really should not splatter everywhere, it is about the consistency of heavy cream....I think the mess is not the fault of the milk or the amount of it ....maybe you would rather use heavy cream and are going "grrrr" under your breath, which might very well make for a spill!

If I were growling about using some ingredient, I would splatter it, too!

The purpose? It has a rich taste, and it is less fattening than cream, a plus!

If you drink your morning coffee with milk, try mixing a spoonful of it with your regular milk ....it is not as fattening as half and half or heavy cream and it tastes very good.

Answer 4

You do need it for the creamy texture, and it does not add a lot of calories as the girl above said.
You need to mix it in a deeper bowl so you make less of a mess. It's not the ingredients, it's how you're mixing it. I've never had a problem but I use a big, deep bowl as I am an absolute messy cook.
If you're using an electric mixer, incorporate your ingredients with a spoon first and then use the mixer.

Answer 5

Taste and texture is what a pie is all about. Don't cut ingredients, use a deeper bowl and a slower speed on the mixer. Take a little more time mixing and eliminate the mess.

Answer 6

I rarely use evaporated milk in my pumpkin pie. It adds a lot of unnecessary calories and just adds extra sweetness and a creamier, stickier texture to the filling.

You can still make great pumpkin pie completely without the evaporated milk, as long as it's still based around eggs.

Answer 7

Pumpkins are essentially custard pies.
Evaporated milk adds more protein and fat to the mixture.
The extra proteins help the custard sets.

Also, the extra fat helps boost the richness without having to use cream, thus less calories.

My suggestion is to mix all the other indredients first and add the evaporated milk last. Stir gently to avoid splashing.

Answer 8

I just made one last saturday brushing up for turkey day.
condensed milk it has lots of sweetness and is much thicker than plain milk....
I don't understand 'splatering"..!
I have an electric hand mixer,.
Yes it looks thin,,,
but 3 eggs, milk and sugar makes custard when boiled or baked.
☺

Answer 9

evaporated milk gives it sweetness, texture, and color your pie will not taste the same with out it !

Answer 10

You could leave it out and you could call the result Pumpkin cookie, or torte , or innedible.