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 Pies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the pumpkin
Rinse the pumpkin, remove the seeds and stringy inside, and cut the flesh into small pieces.
Place the pumpkin pieces in a covered pot with just enough water to prevent burning.
Cook until soft, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, then let the water evaporate.
Once dry, remove the pumpkin from the pot and let it cool, then pass it through a sieve.
Make the filling
Add milk to the pumpkin until it reaches a thick batter consistency, then sweeten with molasses and/or sugar to taste.
Stir in the ginger and cinnamon, and add eggs if desired for richness.
Line and bake
Roll out the pie crust and line a pie plate, trimming the edges neatly.
Place a thin strip of crust around the edge of the plate, then fill with the pumpkin mixture.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) as soon as filled.
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
- Pumpkin
- Provides the bulk, body and sweet, earthy flavor of the filling once cooked and strained.
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the filling structure and a richer, firmer texture.
- Milk
- Thins the cooked pumpkin to a batter and adds moisture and creaminess.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and a deep, caramel-like flavor.
- Ground ginger
- Adds warm, spicy aroma to the filling.
- Ground cinnamon
- Adds warm, sweet aroma that complements the pumpkin.
The step that matters
Drying the pumpkin before adding milk. Pumpkin holds a lot of water. Cooking off the excess and straining it keeps the filling thick and concentrated; wet pumpkin makes a loose filling that will not set properly in the baked pie.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, molasses, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, molasses, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, egg. 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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