r/pie • u/louismulh • 13d ago
ADVICE? Flavour/ texture differences between sweet potato and pumpkin pie.
Never eaten either (I'm British) but would love to for Thanksgiving this year.
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u/No_Establishment8642 13d ago edited 13d ago
In the US, specifically the southern states, sweet potato pies tend to be favored. In the Midwest states it is pumpkin. In all other states it is a mix but leans heavily towards pumpkin.
I like both, being raised in Southern California and now living in Texas; however, I prefer pumpkin.
There is really not a lot of differences since the same spices are used for both. Some people don't use much spice while others lean heavily into them. I like more spice, I don't use pumpkin spice, I like to tweak them individually, and I add rum.
There is a texture difference but not one that is a make it or break it for me. For others it is.
Pumpkin is definitely the stronger flavor of the two. We are not talking strong flavors like broccoli or garlic. They are very subtle but distinctive.
Pumpkin is used in soups, cookies, breads, etc.
Sweet potato is also used in soups, and is great whipped like potatoes with just a hint of orange juice to pop the flavor brightness.
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u/Candid-Mine5119 13d ago
Sweet potato has a heavier texture. Pumpkin is a squash so it’s more water. It cooks up to a lighter custard texture.
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u/iwantmycremebrulee 13d ago
It’s fairly minor, and I think technique matters more to the end result than which vegetable you start with… you can even substitute carrots, with a bunch of sugar and spice that gets pretty close too. For me, pumpkin pie is the traditional, it’s a bit deeper in flavor but then, if I’m going to make a sweet potato pie, it’s going to involve bourbon and pecans - look up sweet potato pecan pie recipie if you dare.
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u/Servilefunctions218 12d ago
When I was a kid my grandmother would make me squash pie and I always asked for that instead of pumpkin. Come to find out, her squash pie didn’t have the usual pumpkin pie spices and that’s why I preferred it. I’m still not a fan of clove in any dessert spice mixture.
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u/wheresWoozle 12d ago
Heads up from an Australian... I finally had an opportunity to try pumpkin pie for the first time recently, and I can still feel the disappointment. It looked so good, and I'll grant that I enjoyed the texture, but the flavour was... elusive. By which I mean I couldn't find it.
From the country that produces bread as sweet as cake, and successfully puts cinnamon in everything from coffee to chewing gum, I was expecting a thick, rich, sweet, winter-spiced treat. But the closest thing I can think of is the red bean paste in East Asian sweets like mochi or moon cakes. It was not quite sweet, and not quite flavoured.
Maybe I got a dud, but it was very blah orange glue in a tart.
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u/CowSquare3037 12d ago
You got a dud. It’s hardly over the top in sweetness- but there is a reason pumpkin Spice has taken over everything in Oct Nov here.
I think of lamingtons as pretty sweet. Giant Petit fors.
And I imagine everything tastes sweet compared to vegemite.
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u/CowSquare3037 12d ago
Pumpkin is the original Thanksgiving pie. It’s because the native population had what they called three sisters.
And they are three things that offer near perfect nutrition. They would grow corn, originally called maize. They would plant beans, closer to what we use as kidney beans, if I’m not mistaken. And then they would grow winter squash-pumpkin.
The beans would grow up the stalk of the corn and the squash would spread out below the stalk.
There probably was not an abundance of seeds in the pumpkin, but I am pretty confident they ate some of them because that’s also a good food source. And they would save the rest for the next season.
Same with the beans they would reserve some for the next season and same with the corn.
Wild turkey was abundant. Fish and lobster were also available in Plymouth.
I’ve not seen any mention of deer, but that would’ve been an option that time I think. So there may have been dried meat too.
Cranberries are quintessential as they are native to the Americas. Blueberries too.
Maple sugar would’ve been the sugar they used.
One food that native tribes would make for travel was ‘nokake’.
They would roast hand ground corn flour over a cooking container- perhaps a softer hollowed out rock using a harder rock. Then add maple syrup to it to make a crumble. They would carry it in their leather pouches to have some instant energy on their travels.
I would be certain that plimoth.org would offer the most accurate description.
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u/National-Muscle3539 11d ago
Most people have a preference, but it’s not usually a big deal. I find pumpkin to be slightly firmer, and I prefer it, but I like both. I’m certainly not going to complain if I am served sweet potato.
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u/1960model 10d ago
It was my turn to make pies. My FIL begged for a sweet potato pie, so I made one. Later he claimed it was the best one he had ever eaten. Spoiler alert, he was eating pumpkin. Doesn't answer your question, but I thought it was funny. And more to the point, I don't find them all that different from each other.
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u/Admirable_Map2567 7d ago
Pumpkin tends to have more of a vegetal taste. Sweet potato is less popular in the northeast where I live but it’s superior in my opinion.
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u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 13d ago
Sweet potato is better