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Dessert

Pumpkin Pies

A baked pumpkin custard pie with butter, eggs, milk, sugar, brandy, and madeira or sherry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Pumpkin Pies

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the pumpkin

  1. Cut the pumpkin into large pieces, peel, and place in cold water over low heat.

  2. Simmer without boiling until tender, then strain through a colander and coarse muslin, squeezing out excess water.

Make the filling

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs until thick and light, then cream the butter and sugar together.

  2. Add the strained pumpkin and other ingredients to the egg mixture, stirring well.

Bake

  1. Line a pie dish with puff pastry, pour in the mixture, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Brandy + sherrytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,505 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,479 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  5. Pumpkin + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pumpkin
Provides the bulk, moisture and flavour of the filling.
Eggs
Set the filling into a custard-like structure as they bake.
Butter
Adds richness and a tender, smooth texture to the filling.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
Sweet milk
Adds liquid and softness, loosening the filling for a smooth set.

The step that matters

Simmer the pumpkin without boiling until tender. Boiling can make the pumpkin watery and loose. Gentle simmering softens it while keeping its texture, and thorough straining removes excess water so the filling sets firm rather than soggy.

Swap the pumpkin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, milk, sugar, brandy, sherry):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Pumpkinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, milk, sugar, brandy, sherry. 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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