You can use canned pumpkin for this if you wish. Make sure you get 100% pure pumpkin, and not “pumpkin pie filling,” which is spiced and sweetened already. If you want to make your own
sugar pumpkin or squash, puree that’s fine to use too. If you don’t want to use the Cognac or liquor in the filling, you can leave it out and increase the vanilla extract to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
A nifty trick is to warm the pumpkin pie filling before adding it to the baked pie shell. It’ll take less time to bake in the oven, resulting in a smoother pie and crisper crust. Tip: If you have an
immersion blender, you can mix the pumpkin pie filling in a saucepan, the same one you use to warm the filling before baking.
Overcooking a pumpkin pie will cause it to crack while cooling, which isn’t the end of the world, as some people think it is. (Hey, it’s only food…) It will still taste good and the marshmallow topping will cover it up nicely, so no one is the wiser if it happens.
Lastly, if you’re just looking for a great pumpkin pie, you can use this recipe without the marshmallow topping. Just add some whipped cream or serve it with a favorite ice cream, such as
cinnamon ice cream or
vanilla ice cream.