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Dessert

Orange Pie

A sweet pie made with butter, sugar, milk, cream, oranges, eggs, and crushed crackers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Orange Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Cream one ounce butter.

  2. Stir in grated rind of two oranges, juice and soft pulp of three oranges, and half pint of sugar.

  3. Add four and one-half even tablespoonfuls of pounded and sifted crackers.

  4. Add four well-beaten eggs and one-half pint of rich milk or cream.

Bake

  1. Mix well and bake in deep plates lined with paste.

  2. To make it richer, use half pound sugar, quarter pound butter, six eggs (whites beaten separately to a stiff froth), grated rind and juice of two large oranges, and one pint cream.

  3. Bake in any pie-plate without an upper crust.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

491Calories
16 gProtein
30 gFat
41 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
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 Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. 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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  4. Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,696 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the filling and set it into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the filling.
Oranges
Provide the main flavour, with acidity from the juice and aroma from the rind.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and balances the sharpness of the orange juice.
Milk or cream
Adds moisture and richness, giving the filling a soft, creamy body.
Crackers (in the method)
Pounded crackers add body and absorb liquid, helping the filling hold together.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to a stiff froth. Stiff whites hold air that gives the richer filling lift and lightness. If they are under-beaten or deflated when combined, the filling turns out denser.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, cream, egg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, cream, 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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