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Dessert

Washington Pie

A layered cake pie with pastry cream or chocolate filling, dusted with powdered sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Ronald · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Washington Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cakes

  1. Make two round layer cakes of sponge or Genoese cake.

Make the fillings

  1. Prepare pastry cream: boil a pint of milk or water with five tablespoonfuls of sugar; add two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch, the yolks of five eggs, and a tablespoonful of butter; stir until thickened; add flavoring; when partly cool spread on the cake.

  2. Prepare chocolate filling: mix a half cupful of milk and a cupful of sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves; add an ounce of shaved chocolate and the beaten yolks of two eggs; stir until thickened; flavor with one half teaspoonful of vanilla; let partly cool before spreading on the cake.

Assemble and finish

  1. Spread between the cakes a layer of pastry cream or chocolate filling.

  2. Dust the top with powdered sugar in crossed lines to imitate pastry strips.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

545Calories
16 gProtein
34 gFat
43 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Cakenot in our table0

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

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 pastry cream and chocolate filling as they cook and set.
Corn-starch
Starch thickens the pastry cream, giving it a smooth, spreadable body.
Milk
Provides the liquid base that the custard fillings cook and thicken in.
Butter
Adds richness and a silkier mouthfeel to the pastry cream.
Shaved chocolate
Gives the chocolate filling its flavor and color.

The step that matters

Stirring the pastry cream and chocolate filling until thickened. Egg yolks and starch thicken the filling as they heat; if it is undercooked it stays runny, and if overheated the yolks can scramble and turn grainy. Stir steadily and watch for a smooth, thick texture.

“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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