Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Washington Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a medium oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Soak the stale cake in water.
Add spices and brown sugar, mixing until thick like pie filling.
Assemble
Cover a large cake tin with pie dough.
Pour the mixture into the tin and level it.
Cover with another sheet of pie dough.
Wash the top with beaten egg and mark in squares.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C).
Place a wooden stick at the open end of the pan to prevent overflow.
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.
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stale cake
- Forms the bulk of the filling and absorbs water and spices to become moist.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the filling thicken and darken as it cooks.
- Common pie dough
- Forms the crust that encloses the filling and holds its shape while baking.
- Egg
- Beaten egg brushed on top promotes browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Place a wooden stick at the open end of the pan to prevent overflow.. The soaked cake and sugar mixture expands and bubbles as it bakes, so an open edge can let filling escape. Keeping the top sealed and the pan's opening guarded helps contain it.
“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 washington pie recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 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.