Name: Blueberry Pie, with Thick Meringue
Ingredients: 1 pie crust; 2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and drained; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; ¼ teaspoon salt; ¾ cup sugar; 1 tablespoon butter, cut into bits; 2 egg whites; 4 tablespoons sugar (for meringue)

Why it works: Flour and butter 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 ↓

Blueberry Pie, with Thick Meringue

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the filling

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a pie plate with the pie crust.
In a bowl, combine blueberries, flour, salt, and sugar. Mix well.
Pour the blueberry mixture into the prepared pie crust.
Dot the top with bits of butter.

Bake and top with meringue

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the blueberries are done.
While the pie is baking, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gradually add 4 tablespoons of sugar to the egg whites, continuing to beat until glossy.
Spread the meringue over the baked pie after the blueberries are done.
Return the pie to the oven and bake for an additional 7-8 minutes, or until the meringue is delicately browned.

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.

Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Flour and butter 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

Blueberries: Provide the main fruit filling, releasing juice that sets into a sauce when baked.
All-purpose flour: Thickens the blueberry juices so the filling holds its shape when sliced.
Egg whites: Whipped into a foam that forms the meringue topping and sets as it bakes.
Sugar: Sweetens the filling and, in the meringue, stabilizes the whipped egg white foam.
Butter: Adds richness and fat to the filling as it melts during baking.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Egg whites must be whipped to a stable foam before sugar is added and the meringue is spread. Under-beaten or greasy whites will not hold their volume, and the topping may weep or collapse in the oven.

“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.

White Cake431 recipes

Pound Cake373 recipes

Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes

Spice Cake344 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Blueberry Pie, with Thick Meringue