Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cocoanut Cream Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine 1 heaping cup of Baker's shredded cocoanut, 1 tablespoon corn starch, 4 tablespoons cold water, 3 eggs, 2 heaping tablespoons butter, 1 cup cream, 1 cup milk, and 6 tablespoons sugar.
Prepare pastry and line two pie plates with good pastry.
Make the filling
In a saucepan, combine milk and cream, bring to a boiling point, and add the corn starch mixture.
Remove the saucepan from the fire, stir in the butter, and let stand until perfectly cold.
Beat up the yolks of eggs and sugar together, then add the cocoanut to this mixture.
Add this mixture to the milk and stiffly beaten whites of eggs.
Bake and serve
Divide the mixture into the prepared pie plates and bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes.
Serve hot.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | 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.
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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn starch (in the method)
- Thickens the filling so it sets into a sliceable custard when cooled.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and set the custard, while whites add lightness and air.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps stabilise the beaten egg yolks.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture in the filling.
- Cream
- Adds fat and body, making the filling richer and silkier than milk alone.
- Shredded cocoanut
- Contributes coconut flavour and a chewy texture throughout the filling.
The step that matters
Add the stiffly beaten egg whites gently. Beaten whites trap air that gives the pie its lightness. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so the filling bakes up dense rather than airy.
“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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