Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cocoanut 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, combine grated coconut, sweet milk, egg yolks, salt, and sweetener. Add melted butter.
Beat the mixture for 5 to 6 minutes until well combined.
Top and bake
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Spread the beaten egg whites over the pie filling.
Bake until the top is slightly 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard filling and help it set firm when baked.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to stiff peaks, they form a light topping that puffs and browns in the oven.
- Grated fresh cocoanut
- Adds coconut flavor and body to the filling.
- Sweet milk
- Provides the liquid base that sets with the eggs into a custard.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, tender filling.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Egg whites hold air only when fully whipped and free of any fat or yolk. Underbeaten whites stay runny and deflate, while overbeaten whites turn dry and grainy, so the topping may not puff or brown evenly.
“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 coconut pie recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe 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.