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 ↓
The Pumpkin Pye
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°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
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cut the pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and scoop out the flesh.
Boil the pumpkin until soft, then mash it.
In a bowl, mix the mashed pumpkin, ginger, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, eggs, and milk until smooth.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie crust.
Bake for 45 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown.
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 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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Ginger + nutmegtop 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, sliceable custard as they cook.
- Pumpkin
- Provides the bulk, moisture and body of the filling.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps soften the custard's texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, helping the filling set smoothly.
The step that matters
Bake until the filling is set. Eggs set as their proteins coagulate with heat. Underbaking leaves a runny center, while overbaking can make the custard grainy or cracked.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg, milk. 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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