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 ↓
O/d- Fashioned Pumpkin Pies
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 bowl, mix the milk, pumpkin, sugar, molasses, ginger, beaten egg, cinnamon, and salt until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a pie tin lined with pastry.
Bake and serve
Bake in the preheated oven until set, about 45 minutes.
Let cool before serving.
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
- Eggs
- Bind the filling and help it set into a firm custard when baked.
- Pumpkin
- Provides the bulk, flavour and moisture of the filling.
- Milk
- Adds liquid and richness, helping the custard set smoothly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and adds to its tender texture.
- Molasses
- Adds depth, dark colour and sweetness to the filling.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Egg proteins coagulate as the filling heats, so underbaking leaves it runny while overbaking can make it cracked or grainy. Baking until just set, then cooling, lets the custard firm fully.
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, molasses, ginger, egg, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, molasses, ginger, 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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