Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Raisin Pie
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine the chopped raisins, water, brown sugar, and flour.
Set the mixture on the stove and bring it to a boil.
Once boiling, pour the filling between two pie crusts and bake.
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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raisins
- Provide the bulk of the filling and its chewy texture and fruity sweetness.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and gives the filling a caramel-like flavor.
- Flour
- Starch swells when heated and thickens the liquid so the filling holds its shape.
The step that matters
Bring the filling to a full boil. The flour's starch only swells and thickens the mixture once it reaches a boil. If the filling is not fully thickened before it goes into the crust, it stays runny and can soak the bottom crust during baking.
“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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