Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Pumpkin Pie
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.
Make the filling
In a large bowl, combine the stewed pumpkin, milk or cream, eggs, nutmeg, butter, and powdered cracker.
Mix well until smooth.
Sweeten the mixture to taste.
Bake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Pour the filling into pie crusts and bake for about 45 minutes or until set.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Pumpkin + nutmegtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,126 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Pumpkin + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,404 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
-
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Nutmeg + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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 custard as they cook, giving the pie its structure.
- Stewed pumpkin
- Provides the main body, moisture and flavour of the filling.
- Milk or cream
- Adds richness and liquid that cooks into a smooth, creamy custard.
- Powdered cracker
- Thickens the filling slightly by absorbing liquid as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more tender texture.
The step that matters
Bake until just set. Eggs set as they heat, so pulling the pie at the right point keeps the custard smooth and tender. Overbaking makes it firm, cracked and grainy.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, nutmeg, butter, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, nutmeg, butter, sugar. 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.
More pumpkin pie recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.