Why it works: Molasses and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,429 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Cherry 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).
Pit the cherries to ensure they are free from worms.
Place the pie crust in a deep dish and add the cherries.
Assemble
Pour the molasses over the cherries and sprinkle with flour.
Cover with the additional pie crust.
Bake
Bake for more than 30 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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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit flavor and the juices that the flour thickens into the filling.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep, rich flavor to the filling.
- Flour
- Thickens the cherry juices so the filling sets instead of running out when sliced.
- Pie crust
- Holds the filling in a structure and browns in the oven as it bakes.
The step that matters
Let the filling bubble thoroughly. Flour thickens only when the juices reach a boil and its starch swells. Baking until the filling bubbles through the top helps the pie set and keeps it from being runny.
“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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