Why it works: Pumpkin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,350 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Peel the pumpkin and remove the rind, seeds, and fluffy part.
Cut the pumpkin into small, thin slices and fill a pie dish.
Assemble and bake
Add all-spice, sugar, and a small quantity of water.
Cover with pastry.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30 minutes or more, depending on pie size.
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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Pumpkin + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,350 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pumpkin
- Forms the bulk of the filling and sets into a soft, tender texture when baked.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pumpkin filling brown slightly at the edges.
- All-spice
- Adds warm, aromatic flavour that complements the pumpkin.
- Pastry
- Covers the filling, holding in moisture while the pie bakes.
The step that matters
Bake until fully cooked. Baking at 400°F for at least 30 minutes lets the pumpkin soften and the filling set. Larger pies need more time, so check that the centre is cooked through rather than relying on the minimum time.
“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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