Try something different for the holidays this year with this rich and creamy Kabocha Pie with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and a hint of rum.
Thanksgiving is in less than a week, and if you haven’t decided on what dessert to serve, I got you covered. This decadent Kabocha Pie (かぼちゃパイ) is super easy to make and will impress your holiday dinner guests!
3 Hacks for Easy Kabocha Pie
1. Use the Frozen Pie Shells or Pie Crusts
Store-bought pie crusts are great for a beginner baker. Making your own pastry shell can be challenging and time-consuming, especially if you’ve never tried making it before. For this Kabocha Pie recipe, you can purchase a ready-made pie shell from your grocer’s freezer.
What brand should you buy? Personally, I like Wholly Wholesome Organic Traditional 9″ Pie Shells because even without blind baking (read the next section), the bottom of the crust does not get soggy! The crust texture is light and flaky with a crisp edge, and it has toasty buttery flavors that are quite delicious. It also comes with on a pie dish so you don’t need to purchase additional pie trays.
I’ve also tried Trader Joe’s pie sheet and it’s one of our favorites as well. But Trader Joe’s Pie Crusts are pastry sheets, which requires your own pie dish. If you don’t bake often, the pie shell I mentioned above might be a better choice.
2. Steam Kabocha
Most of you probably roast/bake pumpkins and squash in the oven. However, in Japan, steaming or microwaving kabocha is the mainstream. Maybe it’s because we don’t have an American-size oven and roasting is not a common cooking method in Japan.
From my own cooking experience, I recommend steaming kabocha. It only requires 15 minutes of steaming (vs. 45-60 minutes of roasting/baking at 400F). Also, steaming helps retain the moisture content in the kabocha during the cooking process.
3. Use Pumpkin Pie Spice
For those of you who’re not in the U.S., pumpkin pie spice is an American spice mix commonly used in pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice latte (or pumpkin smoothie for a healthier version). It’s a really convenient spice to have during the holiday season.
It is generally a blend of powdered cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice. If you can’t get this spice, you can mix 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg for about 2 tablespoons of homemade pumpkin pie spice blend.
Prebake or Not to Prebake Pie Crust
Pre-baking the pie crust before adding the filling is called “Blind Bake” and most of the pies, tarts, and quiches call for pre-baking.
This technique is used to make sure the bottom of the pie is crisp and will hold up the soggy contents. Also, it’s good to pre-bake when your pie is going to spend minimal time in the oven.
One drawback of blind bake is that you will need to account for an additional 1 hour or so to the cooking process. 15-20 minutes to blind bake, then another 30 minutes for the crust to cool before adding the filling and baking again. While it requires extra cooking time, the investment is well worth it to prevent soggy bottoms and blown-out pie crust.
For this recipe, I skipped the blind bake process. The pie crust I used held up the filling very well and the bottom of the crust never got soggy with the kabocha filling. If you’re using pie shells/crusts that are known for soggy crusts, I definitely recommend pre-baking. I put the instructions for pre-baking in the recipe.
3 Cool Kitchen Tools
1. Stainless Steel Steamer Basket
If you don’t have a steamer basket, I recommend you to invest in this stainless steel steamer basket that can be in pans and pressure cookers.
You can steam vegetables, eggs, and even fish! I especially like it because it’s dishwasher-friendly and collapsible for easy storage! You can use how I used the stainless steel steamer basket in the kabocha pie video.
2. Food Processor
If you do a lot of pureeing, a big food processor like this is very helpful. I used to have a smaller food processor so I had to puree vegetables in batches.
This 14-cup food processor is big enough for most of the pureeing job I have to do.
One negative thing about this food processor is that it’s quite big and takes up a big space in your kitchen cabinet.
3. Fine Mesh Strainer
For those of you who don’t own a food processor or blender, this fine mesh strainer or a similar one is a cool tool to have!
In Japanese cooking, we use this fine mesh strainer instead of a food processor or blender because there is no space in a typical Japanese kitchen for these gadgets. 🙂
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Kabocha Pie
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust (you can use my Tart Crust recipe for your pie crust)
- 2½ lb kabocha squash (weight with seeds and skin)
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp rum
- 200 ml heavy (whipping) cream (¾ cup + 4 tsp)
For the Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
- 2 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Blind Bake the Pie Crust (optional; please read the blog post first)
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Take out 1 pie crust from the freezer and thaw for 10 minutes.
- When the pie crust has softened a little bit, prick both the bottom and sides of the pie crust with a fork, making sure not to poke through. This allows steam to escape and prevents bubbles from forming from the bottom of the crust. Alternatively, you can use pie weights. Bake the pie crust for 15–20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, let it cool to room temperature.
To Prepare the Kabocha
- Put 1 cup of water into a pan (I use a wok) and place a steamer basket on top.
- With a very firm chef’s knife, cut 2½ lb kabocha squash in half and scoop out seeds. Cut the kabocha into 1½-inch (4-cm) cubes.
- Place the kabocha cubes in the steamer basket and cover with a lid. Turn the heat to high and steam for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, check if the kabocha is ready by inserting a skewer into a thick kabocha cube. If it goes through smoothly, then they’re done. Otherwise, keep steaming and check back in 1 minute. Remove the steamer basket from the pan. When the kabocha is cool enough for you to touch, remove the skin with a knife.
- Transfer the kabocha to a food processor or blender. Purée the kabocha until smooth. Since the kabocha was steamed and contains a good amount of moisture, you don’t need to add any liquid. However, if the kabocha has been sitting out too long and seems dehydrated, add 1 Tbsp water at a time to help it purée. My kabocha yields about 3 cups (675 g). For this recipe, you will need 2 cups (450 g) of puréed kabocha.
- If you don’t have a food processor or blender, transfer the kabocha to a large bowl and pass it through a fine-mesh strainer like this for a finer texture. You can also use a potato masher, but it won’t be as refined.
To Prepare the Pie Filling
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). If you didn‘t blind bake your pie crust, take out the pie crust from the freezer and thaw for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine 2 Tbsp unsalted butter and 2 Tbsp sugar. Whisk until it’s a creamy consistency.
- Add 1 large egg yolk and 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell), one at a time and whisk well to combine before adding the next one.
- Add 2 cups (450 g) puréed kabocha and mix well to combine.
- Add ⅓ cup brown sugar, 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, and ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt into the bowl and mix all together.
- Add 1 Tbsp rum and 200 ml heavy (whipping) cream (¾ cup + 2 Tbsp) and whisk well.
To Bake
- Pour the filling into the pie crust. Tap the crust on the counter a few times to make sure there are no air gaps in the filling.
- Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC) and bake for 50 minutes, or until the skewer inserted near the center comes out clean. If you pre-baked the pie crust, you might need to shield the edges with foil to avoid the crust becoming too brown and overdone.
- Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before serving.
To Serve
- Serve the pie with a big dollop of fresh whipped cream (recipe follows).
To Make the Whipped Cream
- Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes (if you don’t use an electric mixer, this step helps you to make whipped cream faster). Add 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream and 2 Tbsp sugar into the mixing bowl. Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks.
- Store any unused portion in an airtight container for up to 24 hours. When ready to use, re-whisk for 10 to 15 seconds.
To Store
- You can keep the leftover pie in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
The filling was not quite as creamy nor as sweet as a pumpkin pie. Perhaps additional brown sugar would be helpful and adding more water into the Kabocha puree.
Hi Rob! Thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
[…] sweeter than butternut squash or sweet potatoes. If you like making sweets, don’t miss my Kabocha Squash Pie – it’s a good twist on regular pumpkin […]
It’s difficult to get good pumpkins for pies in my country, unless you go out of your way to an American store and pay a lot for canned pumpkin, but kabocha FINALLY makes it so I can make a really good pie!
It’s SO lovely, thanks for sharing!
Oops, I forgot to ask, how do you get it so bright and colourful? Mine was a dull brownish colour, certainly not as pretty as this..
Oh and the steaming, great method! 🙂
Thank you for trying this recipe Emy! First of all, was your kabocha looks yellow like this? Look at Step 4. Was yours this color after steaming? Some kabocha is slightly darker after steamed (my Kabocha Croquette recipe Step 7) darker too. At step 11 it gets darker again with brown sugar, but then we add cream and color become light again. I feel that your kabocha itself was maybe darker than mine? Also, did you strain the kabocha puree (Step 6)? Removing those fibers helps too as you can see in the third picture (very bright yellow). 🙂
Just wondering… what is the purpose of the rum? I’ve never heard of adding rum to my pies. Is it a common thing to do for kabocha pies?
Hi Christina! I’m not sure about American or European sweets, but in Japan we often include rum in desserts like this. You can completely omit it if you like. It’s just a hint, so if you’re not a fan, you can leave that out. 🙂
Thank you! I decided to try the rum, and I absolutely love how the pie came out! Delicious! This is definitely something that I’ll have to make again! (And the steamed Kabocha was tasty by itself as well!) 🙂
Hi Christina! I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for your feedback. 🙂
Hi Naomi, just wondering if I could freeze the pumpkin pie mixture as I want to make it ahead of time? If so, how long will it last in the freezer? (Before the taste and texture is compromised). Thank you 🙂
Hi Sam! Hmmm… I had never freeze the pie mixture before, but depending on the freezer condition too. If you have food saver and remove the air out, maybe it’ll last much longer. But if it’s just a ziploc or tapperware… maybe 1 month? Sooner is better in terms of fragrance and texture. It might get icy too if the freezing condition is not great. Hope that helps!
It looks yummy.. I am looking for some vegan recipes. We are vegetarian, help me to find your vegan curries/desert recipes. I would be happy to try new recipes from Japanese. Recently we shifted to Japan. Most of the vegetables are new to me and I don’t know how to cook it.
Hi Vatsala! I hope you’re enjoying your new life in Japan! Japan is surrounded by sea and we have lots of seafood in the food (including dashi stock – but kombu dashi is vegan!)… how’s eating out or cooking at home so far?
I’m hoping this list only contains vegan recipes but some recipes that can be easily converted to vegan might be included also. I need to go over the entire list one day as I may not include some recipes.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/tags/vegan/
Hope this helps!
Just found your blog and love it! I am excited to try many of your recipes.
I also so enjoyed your back ground music. Would you be so kind as to list for me your play list?
I appreciate your time.
Hi Mary! Aww thank you! I’m so happy to hear that. 🙂 I don’t have the playlist, but I keep all my music source in the video description box under each of the video. You have to click to open up, and my music source is toward the bottom. 🙂
I made this for Thanksgiving. It turned out so well! The Kabocha squash was amazing, I’m so glad I bought two so I could use more of it! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Hi Ashley! I’m so happy you tried this recipe for your Thanksgiving and liked it! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi, love kabocha. I was wondering if you were to make it dairy free what would you suggest substituting for the heavy cream and how much? Coconut cream or cashew cream? I would also like to make it gluten free and not use sugar as kabocha is sweet enough in season on its own. Maybe a pie shell with ground nuts. What do you think? Thanks.
Hi Deborah! I haven’t tried substituting but coconut cream or cashew cream (never used or heard of it before) can be a good sub. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Hi Asiya! Kabocha is very sweet pumpkin/squash, so if Indian pumpkins are not sweet variety, you might want to add more sugar (or honey etc) to sweeten a bit so t hat it’s more appropriate for dessert. 🙂
Thank you Ramona! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family! xo
Hi Nami,
2# Kabocha was not enough to make 2 cups. It’s better to have over a 2# one so you can get enough. I’d rather have a little extra than not enough. Just an FYI. The Kabocha I bought was just at 2#s.
Hi Lily! I’ve tested this recipe 3 times before making this video and took step by step pictures. Each time, I weigh my kabocha (use grams) 3 stages.
1) raw, with seeds and skin
2) raw, without seeds
3) pureed (steamed and removed skin)
1 cup puree = 225 g
For my 3 recipe testing, I have kabocha puree that ranges from 570 to 650 g. So I get more than 2 cups (450g) each test.
It is possible that your kabocha has more seeds and skin was thicker. I get my kabocha from a Japanese market and it was same variety of kabocha for my 3 tests and didn’t test other kinds.
I will edit my recipe and add .5 lb (227g) to be safe, in case some people have same experience as yours.
Thanks so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
What can I substitute for the rum?
thanks
Hi Sheri! You can use bourbon (I’ve heard of bourbon pumpkin pie before), or if you don’t want to add liquor, you can skip and still perfectly delicious!
Hello Nami,
I’ve made many a pumpkin pie, but never squash pie and am looking forward to trying this! Squash is one of my favourite vegetables, but using it in a dessert is going to be a new experience. :). I can’t get Kabocha squash here but have access to lots of Buttercup squash so shall try that.
And, I think you are beyond brilliant to steam the squash *before* peeling the rind. What an excellent idea. So much easier than peeling before cooking, and so sensible. :D. ありがとうございます
こんにちは Elizabeth! Do you call kabocha “squash” in Canada? In the US, it’s Kabocha Squash, but in Australia, it’s Kabocha Pumpkin, and in Japan it’s considered a part of pumpkin too. 🙂
So it’s natural for us to consider kabocha for pumpkin pie, not squash pie. 🙂 Though when I checked, people search “kabocha squash” way more than other terms.
Anyway, as long as the squash is sweet like kabocha, it should work as a dessert. Kabocha is very sweet, sweeter than butternut squash, so it’s great for dessert too.
Kabocha has super hard skin, so steaming makes it easier. If we take out the skin first, the flesh part gets stuck in the steamer and goes to waste. 😀 Hope you enjoy! どうもありがとう!
Hi again Nami,
Yes, in Canada we would call a kabocha a squash; more specifically, a winter squash. Names can be confusing, can’t they? The name ‘pumpkin’ is usually used here for the round, orange variety of fruit but — if you want to be really, really technical — our orange pumpkins are essentially winter squashes, too! That is, pumpkins and squashes are in the same botanical genus.
I garden. 😉
Having said I could not buy kabocha here (having never seen that particular name in the shops), I’m now wondering if what I call a buttercup squash (the most popular variety here in Atlantic Canada) might be the same thing, or at least a close relative. I just did a little online search, and found a reference that said, in Japanese, our buttercup squash is called せいよ かぼちゃ. Does that sound correct to you?
Hi Elizabeth! Ohhhhhh! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I was sort of hoping that pumpkin and squash are the “same thing”. 😀
西洋(せいよう)means Western. So the translation is saying Western Kabocha. 😀
So the orange buttercup squash is western variety of kabocha… I now wonder how Japanese will classify all the “western” variety of kabocha if they call one “western kabocha” already…. LOL.
😀 Yes, so many varieties. The most common buttercup squash grown and sold here looks very much like your kabocha, so I am hopeful. If it works for the pie, I shall let you know. 😉 Thank you again for the recipe.
Thank you Elizabeth! xo
Hi Nami! Thanks for the great recipe! We just moved to Germany from the US, so it is hard to find the canned pumpkin we usually use in the US to make pumpkin pie. But kabocha squash is really popular here! So now with your recipe, we’ll be able to make an awesome pie for the holidays! Thanks so much! 😀
Hi Anne! I’m so happy to hear you see Kabocha in Germany and I didn’t know there is no canned pumpkin there (I don’t think we have that in Japan too). Hope you enjoy the kabocha pie this holiday season! Thank you for your kind feedback. Happy Thanksgiving to you in Germany! xo
Although my chopper couldn’t make it into puree it was still yummy. Thanks for the recipe!
😋☺️
Also i made the spice mix myself it was good.
Hi Luminashy! Ohhhh! I’m so happy to hear you made the spice too. Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I hope you enjoyed it. 🙂
Yup. Thanks for posting it. I also found a crust that is firm but still crumbles within the mouth. I used the pumpkin that looks like a pear and was still yummy. Also reduced the sugar and still got a sweet filling.
Hi Luminashy! Nice, thanks for letting me know!
Thanks for sharing the Kobocha squash pie recipe. What a great idea and the steamer pan insert is also a cool way to remove the squash skin. I will now have to make the pumpkin, squash and sweet potato pies and have a taste off.
HI Lindsay! Thank you for reading this post! I love the steaming method for kabocha – keeping moist. I love Japanese sweet potto pie… I need to share that recipe one day! 🙂