Pumpkin butter is a thick spread made from cooked pumpkin, sugar, and spices. It is similar to fruit butter and is often used as a spread on toast or bread. It can be found in stores or made at home using pie pumpkins. Recipes that call for pumpkin butter include pumpkin cheesecake and muffins.
Pumpkin butter has been called pumpkin pie in a jar, and while it technically can’t be called fruit butter because pumpkin is winter squash, it falls into this class of preserved spreads. It’s essentially cooked pumpkin that is pureed and combined with sugar and spices common in pumpkin pie, such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. Its very thick consistency is similar to butter, hence the name.
The cooking process of pumpkin butter changes its color and most butters end up a dark orange or brown color. There are some raw pumpkin butter recipes that retain their color, but they can’t be stored and must be refrigerated and used quickly. Most traditional butters call for cooking the squash with spices and sugar to create a thick, gorgeous blend that’s excellent as a spread.
When cooks are planning to use pumpkin butter, they need to carefully research recipes where it is suitable. Some recipes are very low in acid and don’t work well if the cans are to be stored outside the refrigerator. Look especially for those recipes with canning instructions.
Picking the pumpkin is another part of making pumpkin butter. In general, people should select pie pumpkins, with sugar pie pumpkins among the best choices. These are smaller and weigh around 3-5 kg (1.36-2.27 kg). While some people use larger jack o’lantern-style pumpkins, they aren’t as sweet or flavorful, and texture can sometimes be an issue. For large recipes, however, it may take several sugar pie pumpkins to get enough cooked pumpkin, and some people turn to canned pumpkin instead, which is fine.
You don’t need to make homemade pumpkin butter. People can find this butter in a variety of places, and it has become so popular that some companies like Trader Joes sell their own. Many farms that sell pumpkins during the fall may also have butters available, and butter is fairly easy to find at specialty stores.
For anyone who loves pumpkin or pumpkin pie, this buttercream can be a revelation. Many people find it really delicious and so different from the many varieties of fruit they might normally use. It’s excellent on a variety of toasts or breads, and some people enjoy it with granola or as a yogurt topping. Pumpkin ice cream aficionados can enjoy vanilla ice cream toppings with a dollop of pumpkin buttercream.
There are even recipes that call for pumpkin butter. Pumpkin cheesecake might call for it. Some cakes are made even more delicious when added. Muffins or waffles can contain butter and can be made of thumbprint cookies that have their centers filled with this tangy spread.
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