Name: Sweet Potato Custard Pie
Ingredients: 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes; 1 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 2 cups milk; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Why it works: Sweet potato and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 539 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Sweet Potato Custard 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 mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, and cinnamon. Mix until smooth and well combined.
Pour the mixture into two pie crusts.

Bake

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until set.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sweet potato + cinnamontop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together539 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Sweet potatoes: Provide the bulk and body of the filling, along with moisture and mild sweetness.
Sugar: Sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly during baking.
Eggs: Set the custard as they cook, giving the pie its firm, sliceable structure.
Milk: Adds liquid and richness, keeping the custard smooth and tender.
Butter: Adds fat for richer flavour and a softer, silkier texture.

The step that matters

Bake until set. Eggs set as they heat, so underbaking leaves the custard runny and overbaking can make it curdle or crack. Check for a firm centre rather than relying only on the clock.

“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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Cinnamon Cake42 recipes

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Sweet Potato Custard Pie