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Dessert

Caramel Pie

A caramel-flavored custard pie with a buttery crust and meringue topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Colville, Jessie Henderson. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Caramel Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the filling

  1. Add 1 cup of butter and a dash of vanilla.

  2. Add 1 cup of cream and 2 cups of brown sugar.

  3. Add 4 eggs and 2 tablespoonfuls of flour.

Prepare the crust and filling

  1. Line a deep pie-pan with rich pastry.

  2. Mix the flour with the sugar.

  3. Cream the butter.

  4. Add sugar and cream, and the beaten yolks.

  5. Flavor with the vanilla.

Top and bake

  1. Make a meringue of the whites for the top of the pie.

  2. Bake slowly.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

633Calories
20 gProtein
12 gFat
109 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

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

By Colville, Jessie Henderson. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  3. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Cream
Adds moisture and richness to the filling.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a caramel flavor to the filling.
Flour
Thickens the filling so it holds its shape when baked.
Eggs
Yolks thicken and set the filling; whites whip into the meringue topping.

The step that matters

Bake slowly.. Eggs set gently at a moderate heat. Baking too hot can make the custard curdle, puff, or turn rubbery, so a slow bake keeps the filling smooth.

“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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