Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon 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 ↓
New England Pumpkin Pudding
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
Steam the pumpkin and mash it until smooth.
In a large bowl, combine the mashed pumpkin, sugar or maple syrup, and butter.
Add the cream, eggs, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon, mixing well until fully combined.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until set, about 45-60 minutes.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Provides the bulk and moisture that give the pudding its soft body.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to bind the custard and give the pudding its structure.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, producing a smoother, more tender texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
- Sugar or maple syrup
- Adds sweetness and helps soften the texture of the set custard.
The step that matters
Baking until set. Eggs thicken as they heat, so the pudding must be baked only until the centre is just set. Overbaking causes the eggs to curdle and weep, leaving a grainy, watery texture.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, cream, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, cream, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon. 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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