Why it works: Sugar and plum are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,313 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Cherry, Plum, or Gooseberry Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a deep dish with the pie crust, leaving a half-inch overhang.
Assemble and bake
Cover the bottom with ½ cup of sugar.
Add the whole cherries, plums, or gooseberries on top.
Sprinkle ½ cup of sugar over the fruit.
Cover with a lid of puff pastry, sealing the edges with cold water.
Notch the edge and center of the pastry.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden 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 + plumtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,313 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cherries, plums, or gooseberries
- Supply the fruit filling, providing moisture, bulk and most of the tart flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and draws out fruit juice that thickens into a syrup.
- Deep dish pie crust
- Forms the structural base that holds the juicy fruit filling.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a flaky top layer that browns to a golden finish in the oven.
The step that matters
Sealing the edges with cold water. A tight seal keeps the juices inside the pie. Cold water acts as glue so the pastry stays bonded, and the notches let steam escape so the lid does not burst.
“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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