Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Gugtard 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 filling
In a saucepan, combine corn starch (or flour) and sugar.
Add egg yolks and stir constantly while boiling for a few minutes.
Flavor the mixture with vanilla or lemon.
Fill the prepared pie crust with the mixture.
Top and bake
Make a meringue by beating the egg whites and adding ½ cup sugar until stiff.
Spread the meringue over the pie filling.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until the meringue is light brown.
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 + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + vanillatop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together27,347 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Corn starch
- Thickens the filling as it boils, giving it a sliceable body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps stiffen the meringue.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the filling, adding richness and body.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that forms the meringue topping.
The step that matters
Stirring the filling while it boils. Starch thickens only when boiling, and stirring constantly keeps it smooth and prevents scorching or lumps on the bottom of the pan. Egg yolks can curdle if left to sit too long over heat.
“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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