The Pumpkin Pie Spice RPG Contest Discussion Thread

[beta-ray]

OK, prepare for a real crazy thing: pumpkin pie spice does not have any pumpkin whatsoever. It is a blend of normal spices that Americans traditionally use in pumpkin pies, but recently we discovered it really works in just about any dish.

The weirder thing? I never heard of pumpkin pie spice. I only hear of it being called pumpkin spice.

Can you tell I don't eat much sweets or drink coffee?

 

[Parmandur]

The weirder thing? I never heard of pumpkin pie spice. I only hear of it being called pumpkin spice.

Can you tell I don't eat much sweets or drink coffee?

Well, we have skipped to just calling it pumpkin spice, as a society: but it was used for pumpkin pies for quite some time and quite widely.

 

[niklinna]

Well, we have skipped to just calling it pumpkin spice, as a society: but it was used for pumpkin pies for quite some time and quite widely.

Now it's just a special, seasonal treat: pumpkin spice pumpkin pie. As opposed to you know regular pumpkin pie, which is something lacking spices entirely.

 

[Cadence]

Now it's just a special, seasonal treat: pumpkin spice pumpkin pie. As opposed to you know regular pumpkin pie, which is something lacking spices entirely.

Which has me wondering if unspiced pumpkin pie was ever a popular thing (for long, anyway)? [I guess I could actually Google it instead of looking through newspapers ...]

 

[Parmandur]

Now it's just a special, seasonal treat: pumpkin spice pumpkin pie. As opposed to you know regular pumpkin pie, which is something lacking spices entirely.

Never had or heard of pumpkin pie without pumpkin spice. Sounds like a terrible idea.

 

[Cadence]

Quite a bit later than the recipe above, but truth none the less.

From the Hartford Courant - 19 Sep 1924

 

[Parmandur]

Quite a bit later than the recipe above, but truth none the less.

From the Hartford Courant - 19 Sep 1924
View attachment 295509

Wikipedia says:

:A "Pompkin" recipe calling for a similar spice mix (mace, nutmeg, and ginger) can be found as far back as 1796 in the first known published American cookbook, American Cookery, written by Amelia Simmons:"

"Pompkin"

"No. 1. One quart stewed and strained, 3 pints cream, 9 beaten eggs, sugar, mace, nutmeg and ginger, laid into paste No. 7 or 3, and with a dough spur, cross and chequer it, and baked in dishes three quarters of an hour."

"No. 2. One quart of milk, 1 pint pompkin, 4 eggs, molasses, allspice and ginger in a crust, bake 1 hour."

"Pumpkin pie spice has been mentioned in cookbooks dating to the 1890s. Blended pumpkin pie spice was introduced commercially by McCormick & Company in 1934 and is now commercialized by many companies."

And in the UK it's called "mixed spice" or "puddimg spice":

"Mixed spice, also called pudding spice, is a British blend of sweet spices, similar to the pumpkin pie spice used in the United States. Cinnamon is the dominant flavour, with nutmeg and allspice. It is often used in baking, or to complement fruits or other sweet foods."

"A commercial mixed spice mixture.
The term "mixed spice" has been used for this blend of spices in cookbooks at least as far back as 1828 and probably much earlier."

 

[Cadence]

Oldest pumpkin spice latte I found beats Starbucks by "about three years". I had no idea that the spices in Chai in the US matched a lot of those in pumpkin pie spice.

From the Lafayette (Indiana) Journal and Courier 6 Oct 2003:

Earliest I found of Pumpkin Spice Coffee was 1994 in an ad in Massachusetts at Atkins Farms Country Market, and then it's more widely out there 1995 (including Dalton's having pumpkin spice coffee while Starbucks only has eggnog cafe latte).

 

[Parmandur]

Oldest pumpkin spice latte I found beats Starbucks by "about three years". I had no idea that the spices in Chai in the US matched a lot of those in pumpkin pie spice.

From the Lafayette (Indiana) Journal and Courier 6 Oct 2003:

View attachment 295511

Earliest I found of Pumpkin Spice Coffee was 1994 in an ad in Massachusetts at Atkins Farms Country Market, and then it's more widely out there 1995 (including Dalton's having pumpkin spice coffee while Starbucks only has eggnog cafe latte).

Surely some other people probavly experimented with it at home over the years, too.

 

[Cadence]

Surely some other people probavly experimented with it at home over the years, too.

Almost certainly!

This bit was reported in the Vermont Phoenix in 1879, supposedly originally from 1771:

As recorded in the history of Marlboro by Rev. E.H. Newton.