Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Chess Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Combine one cup sugar, one tablespoon flour, one teaspoon cinnamon, and one-half teaspoon cloves.
Add a lump of butter the size of a walnut, one egg or the yolks of two eggs, and one cup water.
Boil the mixture, stirring well.
Assemble and bake
Fill a baked crust with the mixture.
Cover with meringue made from the whites of two eggs beaten with two tablespoons sugar.
Brown the pie in the oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Water | 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.
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. See the original page.
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 + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + clovetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,671 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + clovetop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together17,182 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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, with the egg whites, forms the meringue topping.
- Flour
- Thickens the filling so it sets rather than running when cut.
- Eggs
- Add structure to the filling and, as whites beaten with sugar, lift the meringue topping.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and fat to the filling for a smoother texture.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture, stirring well.. Flour and egg must be heated fully while stirred so the starch swells and the egg cooks evenly. Stopping early or stirring poorly can leave lumps or a runny filling that will not set.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, egg):
- Jalapenofits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, egg. 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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