Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Home-made Pumpkin Pies
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the filling
Cut the pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and peel the skin.
Boil the pumpkin until soft, then mash it into a smooth puree.
In a bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, sugar, and spices.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into the pie crust.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45-50 minutes or until set.
Let cool before serving.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pumpkin + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,744 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Nutmeg + gingertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pumpkin + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,158 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the filling into a firm custard as they cook.
- Pumpkin
- Provides the bulk, moisture and body of the filling.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, helping the custard stay smooth.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the spices.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs thicken the custard as they heat. Underbaking leaves the filling loose and runny, while overbaking can cause cracks and a grainy texture. Checking for a set center, with only a slight wobble, helps avoid both.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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