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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a large bowl, combine the pressed pumpkin, beaten egg whites, beaten egg yolks, milk, sugar, and salt, and beat the mixture well until fully combined.
Pour the mixture into a pie dish without an upper crust.
Dot the top with butter if desired.
Bake
Bake for about 45-50 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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Pumpkin + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,404 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whites and yolks set the custard, giving it structure as it bakes.
- Milk
- Provides liquid and creaminess, which the eggs firm into a smooth custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavor of the pumpkin.
- Stewed pumpkin
- Supplies the main body, flavor and moisture of the filling.
The step that matters
Baking until set. Egg proteins firm as the custard heats. Pulling the pie too early leaves a loose center, while overbaking can make the custard grainy or cracked.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, sugar, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, sugar, butter. 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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