Pumpkin juice!

[emmagrant01]

I was briefly in the WWOHP last weekend, and as always, came home wanting to make pumpkin juice. So today at the grocery store, I picked up a small pumpkin and decided to give it a try.

There are a few recipes out there (these, for example) that claim to give you a result close to the one in the park. I didn't follow either but sort of made up my own.



I juiced half a pie pumpkin, then juiced two small apples and two carrots and mixed all of that together. I added around a teaspoon or so of agave nectar and a dash of pumpkin pie spices.

The result is good, though nothing like the WWOHP version. It's significantly less sweet, which is not a bad thing! It also has a definite raw pumpkin taste that is a bit off-putting. My husband suggested simmering the raw pumpkin juice next time to take the edge off. I have no idea if that would work, but it'd be worth a try. I think I'd also like to try starting with spiced cider and adding in pumpkin juice.

Has anyone else experimented with this?

Comments

[nenne.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about this, I just wanted to say that I love your holiday-icon. :)

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

What about roasting the pumpkin first, then juicing it? That would get rid of the raw taste, plus probably make the juice need less sweetener, since roasting tends to make stuff like squash sweeter anyway.

[worn-words.livejournal.com]

like quiet000001 said, roasting would definitely help. something about cooking stuff that way does some chemistry thing and caramelizes the natural sugars.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I read the ingredients on WWOHP's pumpkin juice and they were (to the best of my memory, my bottle's at home) water, pumpkin puree, apple juice, apricot juice, and spices. I have experimented using a can of pumpkin pie mix (that is, the pumpkin puree with the proper blend of spices, MUCH easier) and apple juice and apricot juice, and I don't come quite to the same end as the bottled stuff but it's still pretty good!

[akemi42.livejournal.com]

It looks delicious!

[dracavia]

I've never actually made it myself, I've thought about it but the wife has thus far discouraged such things (she adores HP as much as I do, but insists Pumpkin Juice is something never meant to be consumed in the real world, lol). Based on general cooking/baking experience though, I would second the suggestions about roasting the pumpkin first or using the pre-cooked puree. The cooking process definitely changes the pumpkin's flavour, for the better in my opinion.