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Rose W Ask a

A pumpkin pie made with pumpkin, brown sugar, spices, eggs, cream, milk, and crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Rose W Ask a

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Combine one can of pumpkin, one and one-third cups of brown sugar, two teaspoons of cinnamon, one teaspoon of ginger, one teaspoon of salt, and five yolks; stir well.

  2. Add one cup cream, one-half cup of milk, and the whites of five eggs beaten stiff; mix thoroughly.

Assemble and bake

  1. Line two deep pie tins with crust.

  2. Fill the crusts with the mixture.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

186Calories
7 gProtein
11 gFat
16 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
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Pienot in our table0

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

By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Pumpkin (in the method)
Provides the main body, moisture and earthy flavour of the filling.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the filling brown slightly as it bakes.
Eggs
Whites set the filling into a sliceable custard as the proteins firm up in the oven.
Yolks
Add richness and help the filling set smoothly and hold its shape.
Cream
Adds fat for a silky, rich texture and softens the set of the custard.

The step that matters

Bake in a moderate oven. The egg proteins set the filling gradually. Too much heat can make it curdle, puff, or crack, so a moderate oven gives a smooth, evenly set custard.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, cream, egg):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Allspicefits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, cream, egg. 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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