Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raisin 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, combine raisins, sugar, water, lemon juice, lemon rind, and eggs. Mix well until combined.
Assemble
Roll out the pastry and line a pie dish with it.
Pour the filling into the lined pie crust.
Bake
Bake in the preheated oven until set and golden, about 30-40 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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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,742 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Raisins
- Provide sweetness, body, and a chewy texture in the filling.
- Eggs
- Set as they bake, thickening the filling so it holds its shape when sliced.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the tartness of the lemon.
- Lemons
- Add acidity and bright aroma that cut through the sweetness of the raisins and sugar.
- Pastry
- Forms the crust that holds the filling and gives the pie its structure.
The step that matters
Bake until set and golden. The eggs thicken the filling as they cook. Underbaked, the filling stays runny and may not slice cleanly. Overbaked, the egg proteins tighten too far and the filling can turn grainy or weep.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, egg. 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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