Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 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, combine the pressed pumpkin, beaten egg yolks, milk, mace, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. Mix well until smooth.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake for 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.
-
Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Pumpkin + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,744 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Mace + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and whites, whipped and folded in, lighten its texture.
- Pumpkin
- Provides the bulk, moisture and body of the filling.
- Milk
- Adds liquid and richness so the custard sets smooth and creamy.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps keep it tender.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives lift, and overmixing or deflating them makes the filling dense and less airy after baking.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pumpkin, egg, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar):
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Clovefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pumpkin, egg, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar. 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.
More pumpkin pie recipes
You might also like
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes
Cinnamon Cake42 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.