Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Orange Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Grate the rind of one orange.
Use the juice of two large oranges.
Stir together a large cupful of sugar and a heaping tablespoonful of flour.
Add to this the well-beaten yolks of three eggs and two tablespoonfuls of melted butter.
Reserve the whites for frosting.
Place the mixture into a pie pan lined with pie paste.
Bake and top
Bake in a quick oven.
When done so as to resemble a finely baked custard, spread on the top of it the beaten whites.
Sweeten the beaten whites with two tablespoonfuls of sugar.
Spread the sweetened beaten whites evenly.
Return to the oven and brown slightly.
Add the juice of half a lemon (optional).
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
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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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + orangetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- The yolks thicken the filling into a custard, and the whites form the topping.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness to the custard filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and the meringue-style topping.
- Oranges
- Provide the juice and rind that give the pie its bright citrus flavour.
- Flour (in the method)
- Helps thicken the filling so it sets into a custard.
The step that matters
Bake in a quick oven. Egg-thickened fillings set through gentle, even heat; too hot an oven can curdle the custard and make it weep or turn rubbery. The topping should be browned only briefly so it does not overcook.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, 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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