my local orchard has a pumpkin patch ....or i bet they know where they got theirs from ...

you kinda answered your own question ... ken

Not exactly...the orchards in my area don't have the cooking varieties (I've never seen them at least). All I ever see are the giant jack o'lantern ones.

Any farmer's markets near you? If they don't have them, they may know someone who grows them.

tj

I can’t tell exactly where you are, have you called Didier Farms near Buffalo Grove, Illinois?

Sherrygirl I will try calling them. They're not unreasonably far from me. Woodyoak thank you for the tip. That makes sense. Maybe if I put the flesh through a strainer before putting it in the bowl that would help? I often do this with pineapple when I use it in baking so I'm assuming the same can be done with pumpkin. And I'd love to see your cake recipe. Perhaps I will try it sometime if you're willing to share. We actually make pumpkin bars every year, which is kind of like pumpkin cake I guess.

I’m not sure straining it would help much. Try the recipe with the fresh pumpkin and also with the canned type to see how different it is - then decide if it makes enough difference to fuss about. When pie pumpkins are available here I usually cook enough to freeze several batches of the amount I need for the cake recipe.

The cake recipe I have makes a huge 9” layer cake! Most of the time now I use the recipe to make about two dozen cupcakes that I ice with maple-flavoured butter icing. YUM! The cupcakes freeze well too so we usually freeze them to keep us from eating too many at once :-). The cake - or a collection of the cupcakes - has become the standard birthday cake requested by a friend. I’ve shut down the computer with the recipe on it, but I’ll provide it to you tomorrow- unless I forget :-)

wonder if your local county extension office might have resources????

or the local library reference person .. you might be surprised ... ive asked some of the stupidest questions you ever heard.. and they came up with search ideas... lol ...

ken

Are not sugar pumpkins available in your area? These are the ones that are typically used in pies and for other cooking and baking purposes. They are small - only a pound or two - dense, with fewer seeds and very sweet.

Here they are sold in grocery stores in eary to late fall and are also available at farmer's markets, fruit stands and even in nurseries. A bit too early for them to appear here now.....you usually see them around mid September.

Our State Dept. of Agriculture publishes a listing of all the farmer's markets in the state. It lists the vendors and their website addresses which typically list what products they provide. We also have a Front Porch Forum where folks can post questions about any number of things. (goods/services sought or being provided among them) If you have something similar, that might be a resource for you. You may find out about a bunch of fun stuff. Good luck!

Here is the recipe - I think you should be able to right-click and hit print if you are on a computer hooked up to a printer - or save it to a file you can print later. I can't find a picture of the cupcake version - although I know we took pictures (they might be on DH's camera files....) but here is a picture of it as a birthday cake:

(The cake - or cupcakes - are usually decorated with pecan halves but I must have been out of them as the cake in the picture has walnut halves on top!)

gardengal - interesting to note that the cookbook the recipe originated in was called Pacific Northwest; The Beautiful Cookbook :-)

We have many pumpkin patches in the state now you can pick your own so do a search for the places near you. Our school kids usually go for a day trip to one for a pumpkinand a day of fun. I see the cooking pumpkins at all the grocery stores. It just it not the time for them yet. They are much smaller than the jack-o-lantern pumpkins we use for carving. They usually say pumpkins for cooking near them.

A good way to search for anything is to google with a zip code. I entered ~ pumpkins [my zip code] ~ and found three out here in the desert.✔

Fruit markets and grocery stores in my area usually carry pie pumpkins in the fall months -- you shouldn't have too much trouble locating them.

PerennialFan,

Butternut squash makes a pie that exceeds any pie type pumpkin I know of, in: flavor, texture, and ease of preparation, IMHO. Butternuts will soon be available at just about every grocery store, farmer's market, farm store, etc. The longer the neck and smaller the bell end, the more meat a butternut will have. They make delicious cakes, pudding and custard, too. Just don't drop one on your foot...you'll be in a cast for 6 months!

One last thing, the riper the butternut is, the deeper orange, sweeter, and richer flavored the meat is.

Moses

U-pick farms tend to just be jack-o-lantern pumpkins (fun for the kids, and all that) - if you're looking for a cooking pumpkin, farmer's market stands or the grocery stores with the best produce sections in your area are likely your best bet - in my area, they usually have them in October & November, leading up to Thanksgiving. (As mentioned above, the texture & flavor of cooked fresh pumpkin is lighter than canned pumpkin - I like them both, but they are noticeably different.)

Thank you for the tips Albert, Mxk3, and Moses. I guess I could just google pumpkins along with my zipcode, but when I do that I often get farms with the giant jack o'lantern type pumpkins. The smaller types are called "sugar pumpkins", right? I will try to make 2 breads this year. One with pumpkin and one with butternut, and then I'll see which one I like better.

I use "regular" pumpkins every year, mostly mashed as a vegetable or in soups/stews. (I "pick" them from my neighbors when they are done with their fall porch décor). Some are more stringy-fleshed, and not as orange, others are more like you might find in "pie" pumpkins. However, they all cook up well. If I am going to use it in a baked good I will mash or puree after cooking, then let it drain in a mesh strainer or colander for 4-5 hours or even overnight -- that makes it more like canned in texture.

Once I tried cooking down the drained juice to make a syrup like I do with apple cider -- it tasted amazingly like honey, but didn't keep well.