Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Jelly Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make the filling
In a mixing bowl, combine the jelly, butter, sugar, and beaten eggs.
Mix the ingredients smoothly until well combined.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake slowly in the preheated oven.
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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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Jelly
- Provides the main sweetness, flavour and moisture of the filling.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, softer texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps give it a tender texture.
- Eggs
- Set as they bake, giving the filling its body and structure.
The step that matters
Bake slowly in the preheated oven. Egg proteins set gently at moderate heat. Baking too hot can make the filling curdle, weep or puff and crack, leaving a grainy texture instead of a smooth set.
“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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