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Libby's Pumpkin cans this year feature recipes for two kinds of pies: New Fashioned Pumpkin Pie, left, and Famous Pumpkin Pie, right.
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Is Libby’s New Fashioned pumpkin pie as good as its Famous pie?

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Is Libby’s New Fashioned pumpkin pie as good as its Famous pie?

Libby’s Pumpkin has a new-fashioned angle on an old-fashioned pie.

America's largest supplier of canned pumpkin has updated its recipe this year for the first time since 1950, and so bakers can not only make the Famous Pumpkin Pie but also a New Fashioned Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving.

Recipes for both pies appear on the can’s label and are identical in every respect except that while the Famous pie is made with 1½ cups of evaporated milk and ¾ cup of granulated sugar, the New-Fashioned pie uses 1 cup of evaporated milk and is sweetened with 1¾ cups of sweetened condensed milk.

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We tested both recipes, preparing and cooking the two pies using the same measuring cups for the same ingredients and combining them in the same manner, to see which pie rules supreme.

While the recipe for sweetened and spiced pumpkin puree filled a unbaked 9-inch deep-dish shell to the very top for the Famous pie, we ended up with a one-third cup of excess filling for the New Fashioned pie.

The can’s label did not provide the nutritional facts for the baked pies and so we don’t have the actual numbers to show which pie is sweeter or has higher calories. Instead we let our senses guide us and here’s our verdict.

Color: When hot out of the oven, the Famous pie has the real-deal rich pumpkin hue. The New Fashioned, on the other hand, is lighter in color, almost like a milky pumpkin. Also, while the filling is uniform in color in the Famous pie, the filling in its counterpart has a caramelized and browned edge.

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Taste: If you want to taste the pumpkin, the Famous pie is one for you. It will win over all those people who cannot shake off the memories of how their grandmothers, mothers or moms-in-law made the pies by cooking down fresh pumpkin pulp. If you hate pumpkin pie, the New Fashioned might be the way to go as the pumpkin flavor is a lot more muted. But the spices seem more pronounced in the new pie version.

Texture: The Famous pie is denser whereas the New Fashioned is creamier and more mousse-y.

And the winner is … : There is a reason why old is gold. Although the Famous pie is denser, it has everything else down pat, including the amount of filling.

Famous Pumpkin Pie

PG tested

1 can (15 ounces) Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin

1½ cups (1 12-ounce can) Carnation Evaporated Milk

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

2 large eggs

1 unbaked 9-inch (4 cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and dry ingredient mixture. Gradually stir in milk.

Pour in pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Makes 10 servings.

— Libby’s Pumpkin

New Fashioned Pumpkin Pie

PG tested

1 can (15 ounces) Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin

1 cup Carnation Evaporated Milk

1¾ cup (1 14-ounce can) Carnation Sweetened Condensed Milk

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

2 large eggs

1 unbaked 9-inch (4 cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and dry ingredient mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated and condensed milks.

Pour in pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Makes 10 servings.

— Libby’s Pumpkin

First Published: November 26, 2019, 1:00 p.m.

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Libby's Pumpkin cans this year feature recipes for two kinds of pies: New Fashioned Pumpkin Pie, left, and Famous Pumpkin Pie, right.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
The Famous Pumpkin Pie is sweetened with granulated sugar.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
The New Fashioned Pumpkin Pie is sweetened with sweetened condensed milk.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
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