Why it works: Nutmeg and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,377 recipes. Both carry alpha-terpineol, which smells lilac, floral. The science ↓
Soue Cream 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 the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the sour cream, nutmeg, egg, raisins or currants, and sugar until well combined.
Place one pie crust in a pie dish and pour the filling into it.
Assemble and bake
Cover with the second pie crust and seal the edges.
Cut slits in the top crust for steam to escape.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
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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Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Sour cream
- Provides moisture and a tangy, rich body that sets softly as the filling bakes.
- Egg
- Helps the filling set and gives it structure as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the tang of the sour cream.
The step that matters
Cutting steam slits in the top crust. Steam trapped under a sealed top crust can build pressure and lift or split the crust, and can make the filling watery or uneven. Slits let steam escape while the custard-like filling sets.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, nutmeg, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Lemonfits about as well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, nutmeg, egg, sugar. 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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