Why it works: Milk and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,053 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Huckleberry Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a cool oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the crust
Prepare the pie crust as you would for an apple pie.
Press the edges of the crust together to prevent juice from leaking.
Make the filling
In a saucepan, mix cornstarch with a little milk, then scald the remaining milk.
Add the cornstarch mixture to the scalded milk, stirring well, and boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and let cool, then add the egg yolks, sugars, and lemon juice and rind. Beat well.
Fill the pie crust with the huckleberry mixture.
Bake and top with meringue
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool.
For the meringue, beat the egg whites until stiff, gradually adding powdered sugar.
Spread the meringue over the cooled pie and bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) for 15 minutes.
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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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard filling, and whites whip into the meringue topping.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk mixture so the filling sets smoothly when cooled.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base of the filling that thickens with the cornstarch and eggs.
- Huckleberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and tartness in the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps balance the tartness of the berries and lemon.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the sweet filling.
The step that matters
Let the cornstarch mixture boil for 1 minute. Cornstarch only reaches its full thickening power once it boils, so a shorter boil can leave the filling thin and runny after it cools.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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