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Dessert

Raisin Pie

A pie filled with raisins, sugar, water, vinegar, butter, eggs, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Make the filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a saucepan, combine raisins, sugar, water, and vinegar. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens.

  3. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

  4. In a bowl, beat the butter and eggs together until smooth.

  5. Add the cooled raisin mixture and spices to the egg mixture. Mix well.

Bake

  1. Pour the filling into pie crusts and bake for 30-40 minutes or until set.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

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 of the filling and its sweet, chewy texture.
Eggs
Set when baked, giving the filling structure and a custard-like body.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smooth, tender mouthfeel.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps thicken the cooked raisin mixture.
Vinegar
Adds a little acidity that brightens the sweetness of the raisins and sugar.

The step that matters

Let the raisin mixture cool slightly before adding it to the eggs. Adding hot filling to beaten eggs can start to cook them unevenly and cause lumps. Cooling it slightly lets the eggs blend smoothly and then set evenly in the oven.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, butter, egg, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits about as well
  3. Raisinthe original
  4. Lemonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, butter, egg, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. 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.

More raisin pie recipes

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