Name: Frontera Grill's Chocolate Pecan Pie with Coffee Whipped Cream
Yield: Makes 1 deep-dish pie or 10 to 12 servings
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 3/4 teaspoon sugar; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten; 4 1/2 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) pecan halves, toasted; 4 1/2 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature; 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar; 4 large eggs, room temperature; 1/2 cup light corn syrup; 3 tablespoons dark molasses; 1 tablespoon coffee-flavored liqueur, such as Kahlúa; 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 cup heavy cream; 3 to 4 tablespoons confectioners' sugar; 2 teaspoons coffee-flavored liqueur, such as Kahlúa; Food processor, 9-inch deep-dish pie plate, pie weights or dried beans, pastry brush, stand mixer with whisk and paddle attachments.

Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

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 + syruptop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Syrup + molassestop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together272 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + corntop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,165 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Pecan	1 half (4g)	20
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Syrup	not in our table	0
Pie	not in our table	0
Beans	not in our table	0
Pastry	not in our table	0

Frontera Grill's Chocolate Pecan Pie with Coffee Whipped Cream