Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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, beat the eggs.
Add sugar, pumpkin puree, milk, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Mix well.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into pie crusts.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until set.
Cool before serving.
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 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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Pumpkin + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,158 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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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
- Eggs
- Set the custard and give the filling its structure as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps soften the set texture of the custard.
- Pumpkin puree
- Provides the main body, moisture and flavour of the filling.
- Milk
- Adds liquid and richness, letting the custard set smoothly.
- Ground ginger
- Adds warm, spicy aroma to the filling.
- Ground cinnamon
- Adds warm, sweet aroma that complements the pumpkin.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs thicken the custard as they heat, so the pie must bake until the center is set. Underbaking leaves a runny filling, while overbaking can cause cracking and a grainy texture.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, pumpkin, milk, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Clovefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, pumpkin, milk, 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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