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 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 your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a bowl, mix the sugar, egg yolks, and stewed pumpkin until well combined.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the pumpkin mixture.
Finally, add the milk and flavor with cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake for about 45 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.
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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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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).
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Milk + pumpkintop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,404 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Egg whites add lift through whipped air, and yolks help the filling set firm.
- Stewed pumpkin
- Provides the main body, moisture and flavour of the pie filling.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it stay tender while baking.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and helps the custard-like filling set softly.
The step that matters
Folding the beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the whipped foam's air in the mixture. Stirring harshly deflates the whites, which weakens lift and leaves a denser filling.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, egg, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, egg, 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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