Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Prune Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the prunes
Wash the prunes and soak them in enough cold water to cover.
Cook the prunes in the same water until soft.
Remove the stones, cut the prunes into quarters, and mix them with the sugar and lemon juice.
Assemble and bake
Reduce the liquor to one and one-half tablespoons.
Line a plate with the paste, cover with the pruned mixture, pour over the liquor, dot with butter, and dredge with flour.
Put an upper crust on and bake in a moderate oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Prune | 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.
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Prunes
- Form the bulk of the filling and provide the main fruit flavor and soft texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the tartness of the prunes and lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that softens the filling's flavor.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking juices so the filling holds together rather than running.
The step that matters
Reduce the liquor to one and one-half tablespoons. Reducing concentrates the sugars and natural pectin in the cooking liquid, so it thickens and binds. If it stays too thin, it soaks into the crust and makes the bottom soggy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, flour. 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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