Reducing Canned Pumpkin (as per America's Test Kitchen)
I have a request from a friend for a Libby's Pumpkin Roll. I don't have any experience working with pumpkin because I don't like pumpkin. That particular recipe was a holiday family tradition for him, so of course I want mine to be superior to any he's ever had. America's Test Kitchen does a trick with canned pumpkin, they add the seasonings (basically pumpkin pie spice) and cook it over medium heat, reducing it significantly. "Canned pumpkin puree often lends a raw, metallic flavor to pumpkin bread. We cook down the puree to eliminate those off-putting flavors." OK, if ATK recommends something, that's usually good enough for me. One pretty safe option is to measure the pumpkin per the Libby's Roll recipe, add the seasonings, weigh everything, reduce it per ATK, weigh it again and add the water back. Then I'm dealing with the same measurement of pumpkin, same moisture level, perhaps better tasting. However, since I'm doing the reduction step anyway, I'm wondering if I can amp up the pumpkin flavor a bit, without ruining the texture of the cake. Since I'm going to be rolling it, I need to be particularly careful.
So, my first question is if the adding the water back to the reduction is as safe as I think it is. Secondly, I'd like to know if can get away with tweaking for a bit more pumpkin flavor. Advice?
Best Answer
ATK's method, while it may reduce the canned taste, has two primary outcomes:
- It heats the pumpkin puree
- It reduces the water volume
The flavor intensification is due to the reduction. If you are not willing to change the water ratio of your base recipe, there is litte point to doing it, and then adding the water weight back.
So the question is: does bringing the pumpkin up to a simmer in a pan actually signficantly reduce the canned taste? While I suspect it doesn't at least when the final cooking stage is included, it is a pretty easy step to do, and won't cause you much trouble other than an extra pot to clean.
While you may need some trial and error, increasing the percentage of pumpkin solids in your swiss roll recipe will reduce the structure of the cake; it may tolerate a small increase (perhaps to the 1 full cup or even more, reduced slightly if you want to) without becoming too soft to roll.
While raw pumpkin is about 90% water I suspect the Libby's product is already reduced, to probably 70 or 80% water (I was not able to find a definitive answer), you may want to reduce your total pumpkin down by 2/3 to 3/4 of the volume above the base 3/4 cup called for in the recipe to keep the total liquid close. So if you add 1/2 cup of pumpkin, for a total of 1 1/4 cups, reduce it by 3/8 of a cup; this would be easiest done by weight where it is 3 ounces.
Pumpkin and eggs are the only signficant water in that recipe, so you cannot substiute out another liquid to allow you to bring in more pumpkin.
Finally, consider that product vendors are especially motivated to write recipes that show their products in good light, and are reliable. There is almost certainly some margin of error in that recipe for experimentation to account for the variance of their customers' cooking habits, but it quite likely close to ideal already or they would not have published it.
Pictures about "Reducing Canned Pumpkin (as per America's Test Kitchen)"
How do you reduce canned pumpkin?
How to Do It. Simply transfer the pur\xe9e into a saucepan or large skillet and cook for about five minutes on medium-low heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching and sticking. You don't want to cook or reduce the pumpkin too much \u2014 you're just releasing its flavor a bit. Once it's steamy and fragrant, you're done.Can you reduce pumpkin puree?
So if you add 1/2 cup of pumpkin, for a total of 1 1/4 cups, reduce it by 3/8 of a cup; this would be easiest done by weight where it is 3 ounces. Pumpkin and eggs are the only signficant water in that recipe, so you cannot substiute out another liquid to allow you to bring in more pumpkin.How do you reduce water in pumpkin puree?
You can remove excess water from pumpkin puree in two ways: What is this? Heat to release water: Heat puree in a pan over medium-low heat to \u201ccook out\u201d excess water, about 10 minutes. Then let sit for 30-60 minutes to promote even more drying.How much canned pumpkin is equal to fresh?
Making pumpkin puree from scratch (actual fresh pumpkin) is easy, and yes, you can definitely substitute the canned pumpkin for fresh pureed pumpkin on our recipes. Substitute the same volume (1 cup fresh puree for 1 cup canned). A 15 oz. can is approximately 1 3/4 c fresh.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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