Why it works: Pumpkin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,744 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very quick oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the pumpkin
Wash a large pumpkin, cut it in half, and place it cut side down in the oven.
Roast until soft but not mushy.
Scrape out the flesh with a spoon or fork and place it in a colander to drain overnight in a cool place.
The next morning, put 2 cups of the pumpkin in a bowl and whip thoroughly with a fork until lumps are removed.
Drain out as much liquid as possible; the pumpkin should be dry.
Make the filling
Add sugar, egg yolks, and cinnamon, and beat for five minutes.
Quickly add cream.
Add whiskey.
Add butter.
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites with cornstarch sprinkled over them.
Pour into a pie crust-lined pan about 2.5 inches deep and bake for one hour in a very hot oven (400°F/200°C).
Cool and serve
Do not remove from the pie pan until cold.
This pie is better if eaten the day after baking.
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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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).
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Cinnamon + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,784 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
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 body of the filling once drained of excess liquid.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to give the custard-like filling its structure.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing to a tender texture.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the set filling.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the filling and helps it hold its shape when baked.
The step that matters
Drain the pumpkin thoroughly. Excess liquid from the pumpkin thins the filling and can make the baked pie watery or prevent it from setting firmly. Draining and drying the pumpkin keeps the custard thick.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cinnamon, butter, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cinnamon, butter, cream. 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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