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Tar Heel Pie

"This pie is best if under-baked and a bit gooey like a brownie inside. This is a very rich pie, so small slices are advised."

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Tar Heel Pie

Why it works: Vanilla and coconut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,294 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Tar Heel Pie

1 - 9 inch deep-dish pie
Prep20 min
Cook40 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1330Calories
26 gProtein
74 gFat
140 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Pecans1 oz (28g / ~19 halves)196
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Pie Crustnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Vanilla + coconuttop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Pecans + coconuttop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together394 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Vanilla + pecanstop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,691 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Swap the pecans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, chocolate, flour, sugar, egg, vanilla, coconut):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Macadamia nutfits better
  3. Hazelnutfits better
  4. Pecansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, chocolate, flour, sugar, egg, vanilla, coconut. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.