Name: Sweet Potato Pie II
Ingredients: 4 large sweet potatoes; 2 cups sugar; 1 stick butter; 1 pinch cinnamon; 1 pinch nutmeg; 1 store-bought pie crust; 1/2 cup milk

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 ↓

Sweet Potato Pie II

Oven375 °F

Timeabout 35‑40 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

Boil the potatoes until tender; when you stick a fork in them it should go in easily but you don't want them to fall apart. Let the potatoes cool and then peel them.
Put the potatoes in a large mixing bowl and mash them thoroughly with a potato masher.
Melt the butter and pour it and the other ingredients into the bowl of potatoes. Stir until well mixed.

Fill and bake

Pour the mixture into the crust.
Put into an oven preheated to 375 °F. Cook for about 35‑40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

479Calories

13 gProtein

20 gFat

65 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Pie Crust	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,917 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Sweet potato + cinnamontop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together539 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sweet potato + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together414 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Cinnamon + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet potatoes: Provide the main body and starchy structure of the filling, plus natural sweetness.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps balance the earthy flavor of the potatoes.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smoother, silkier texture in the filling.
Milk: Adds moisture and loosens the mashed potatoes into a pourable filling.

The step that matters

Boil the potatoes until just tender. Overcooked potatoes absorb extra water and break down, which leaves the filling loose and watery and can make the baked pie soggy.

“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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Sweet Potato Pie II