Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Cream Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
In a bowl, combine egg yolks, corn starch, sugar, and milk.
Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring until thickened.
Pour the filling into a pie crust.
Top and bake
If desired, beat the egg whites until stiff and spread them over the top of the pie.
Bake until the meringue is lightly browned.
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.
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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help thicken the custard as they set with heat.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth, sliceable filling when heated.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the flavor of the milk and eggs.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard filling.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks to form a meringue topping that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Cooking the filling until thickened. Corn starch only thickens fully when the mixture is heated enough for its granules to swell. Stopping early leaves a runny filling, while overheating can scorch the milk or curdle the egg yolks.
“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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