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 your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a bowl, combine the chopped raisins, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon rind.
Add the rolled crackers and water to the mixture, stirring until well combined.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and dot the top with butter.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust is golden.
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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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 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 the main body, sweetness and chewy texture of the filling.
- Rolled crackers
- Absorb liquid and thicken the raisin mixture so it sets into a sliceable filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly during baking.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the sweetness of the raisins and sugar.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that melts over the top and helps the crust brown.
The step that matters
Baking until the filling is set. Starch from the crackers thickens as the filling heats, but pulling the pie too early leaves it runny and it will not hold its shape when cut. Baking until the filling is set and the crust is golden ensures a firm, cleanly sliceable result.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applefits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, butter. 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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