Why it works: Flour and sugar 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 ↓
Cream Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Mix 3 tablespoons of flour with 1 cup of sugar.
Add yolks of 2 eggs.
Add milk to moisten and stir until smooth.
Boil nearly 1 pint of milk.
Set dish in hot water to prevent burning.
Stir in the eggs and flour and boil.
Add a pinch of salt and butter the size of a hickory nut.
Flavor with Royce's lemon or vanilla.
Finish and bake
Bake your crust and then fill with the cream.
Beat the whites of 2 eggs to a stiff froth.
Add a teaspoon of sugar.
Spread over the pie and brown in the oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
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).
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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and whites whip into a light, stable topping.
- Flour
- Starch thickens the milk mixture so the cream sets firm enough to slice.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the meringue topping hold its whipped structure.
- Milk (in the method)
- Forms the liquid base that the flour and eggs thicken into cream.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel in the filling.
The step that matters
Stir in the eggs and flour and boil. Flour starch must cook fully to thicken the filling, while egg yolks can curdle or scramble if overheated. Keep stirring constantly and keep the heat controlled so the cream thickens smoothly without lumps or graininess.
“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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