Why it works: Peach and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,308 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Peach Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pie
Line a pie tin with puff pastry.
Fill with peeled peaches cut in halves or quarters, and cover well with sugar.
Place the upper crust on top and bake until done.
Add meringue and brown
Remove from the oven and cover with a meringue made from 2 beaten egg whites and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar.
Return to the oven and brown slightly.
Canned peaches may be used instead of fresh.
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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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Peach + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,048 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Puff pastry
- Forms the crust that holds the filling and bakes crisp and flaky.
- Peaches
- Provide the fruit filling, adding sweetness and juicy moisture as they cook.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the peaches and draws out their juice, softening the fruit.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into meringue, they create a light topping that sets and browns in the oven.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves easily into the beaten egg whites, sweetening and stabilizing the meringue.
The step that matters
Return to the oven and brown slightly. Meringue browns quickly because its sugar caramelizes at high heat, so it can scorch before the pie is hot through. Watch it closely and remove it as soon as the peaks turn golden.
Swap the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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