Skip to main content
Dessert

Pan Pie

A savory pie with tart apples and thin pork slices, sweetened with brown sugar and molasses.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Pan Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Assemble

  1. Line a deep tin with pie crust.

  2. Fill with tart apples.

  3. Lay thin slices of pork over the top.

  4. Sweeten with brown sugar and molasses.

  5. Add salt and a sprinkle of allspice.

Bake

  1. Bake for 3 hours in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Apple + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together998 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  3. Apple + porktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,581 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  4. Molasses + allspicetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,508 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Pork + allspicetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,194 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pie crust
Forms the shell that holds the filling together while it bakes.
Tart apples
Add acidity and moisture that keep the filling from tasting flat.
Thin slices of pork
Add savory meat flavor and fat that runs into the filling as it cooks.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a caramel-like depth that balances the tart apples.
Molasses
Adds dark sweetness and a rich, slightly bitter aroma.

The step that matters

Bake for 3 hours in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C). A long, low bake lets the pork cook through gently and the apples soften without the crust over-browning or the juices boiling dry. Too hot an oven risks a burnt crust with undercooked filling.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, pork, sugar, molasses):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, pork, sugar, molasses. 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.

More pork and apple pie recipes

Boston 4 See all 6 →

You might also like

Apple PuddingApple Pudding256 recipesMolasses CookiesMolasses Cookies96 recipesMolasses CakeMolasses Cake90 recipesApple CakeApple Cake80 recipes