Name: Raisin Pie
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar; Juice and grated rind of 2 lemons; 4 tablespoons flour; 1 cup seeded raisins; 1 cup molasses; 1 cup water

Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Raisin Pie

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

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the flour and sugar.
Add the molasses, water, lemon juice, lemon rind, and seeded raisins to the mixture.

Assemble and bake

Line a pie tin with pastry.
Pour the raisin mixture into the pie tin.
Cover the raisin mixture with pastry, similar to how you would for an apple pie.

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 + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + raisintop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Thickens the raisin filling as it bakes, giving it a set, sliceable body.
Molasses: Provides dark color and deep, sweet flavor to the filling.
Raisins: Supply chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the filling.
Lemon rind and juice: Adds acidity and bright aroma that balance the sweetness of sugar and molasses.