Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Cream 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.
Make the pie layers
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Add the sugar to the egg whites, then sift in the flour with the baking soda and cream of tartar.
Pour the mixture into two pie tins and bake until golden.
Make the cream filling
Cook the milk in a double boiler for the cream.
Wet the cornstarch with a little milk, then mix in the eggs and sugar.
Stir this mixture into the boiling milk and cook until thickened.
Flavor to taste and let cool before spreading between the pie layers.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the sponge layers as it sets with the whipped egg whites.
- Eggs
- Whipped whites give the layers lift and airiness, while yolks and eggs thicken the cream.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the cream filling as it heats with the milk.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the cream filling.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar to leaven the layers.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilizes the whipped egg whites and works with baking soda to help the layers rise.
The step that matters
Cooking the cream until thickened. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the mixture reaches a boil, and eggs can curdle if overheated. Stirring constantly keeps the cream smooth.
“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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