Why it works: Flour and rhubarb match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 670 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix together the sugar, egg, butter, lemon juice and rind, flour or cornstarch, chopped rhubarb, and salt.
Assemble and bake
Pour the mixture into one of the pie crusts.
Cover with the second pie crust and seal the edges.
Cut slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Flour + rhubarbtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together670 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + rhubarbtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together546 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Rhubarb
- Provides the tart flavour that the pie is known for.
- Flour or cornstarch
- Thickens the filling as it bakes so it holds together when sliced.
- Egg
- Adds structure and helps bind the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the tartness of the rhubarb and lemon.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and aroma to brighten the filling.
The step that matters
Cut slits in the top crust. Steam from the rhubarb filling needs an escape route. Without vents, pressure can build, the top crust may crack or lift, and the filling can boil over unevenly.
Swap the rhubarb
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, butter, lemon, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Rhubarbthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, lemon, 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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