Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Best Cherry Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a saucepan, combine sugar and flour.
Blend in 1 cup reserved cherry juice.
Bring to a boil, stirring often.
Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened.
Remove from heat and add food coloring (optional), almond extract (optional), and margarine.
Cover and refrigerate.
Assemble the pie
Roll out half of pastry and line a 9” pie pan.
Roll out other half of pastry into an 11” circle – cut into eight ½” strips.
Pour cooled cherry filling into pastry-lined pie pan.
Lay pastry strips horizontally across the top of the pie.
Lay pastry strips vertically across the top of the pie.
Crimp edges with forefinger of one hand pressed into thumb of the other hand, to seal edges.
Bake
Bake 30-35 minutes until crust is brown and filling is bubbling.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cherry | 1 cup (138g) | 87 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
| Pastry | not in our table | 0 |
| Pie | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps balance the tartness of the cherries.
- Flour
- Thickens the cherry juice into a gel that holds the filling together when cut.
- Red tart cherries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and the body of the pie filling.
- Margarine or butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, glossy finish to the cooked filling.
The step that matters
Cool the filling before pouring it into the pastry. Hot filling melts the fat in the raw pastry and softens the crust, leading to a soggy bottom. Cooling the thickened filling lets the crust set as it bakes.
“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 cherry pie recipes
You might also like
Almond Sponge Cake26 recipes
Almond Custard22 recipes
Almond Wafers22 recipes
Coconut Almond Cake17 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.