Why it works: Sugar and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cranberry Tart
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make a short pastry and line a pie dish with it.
Assemble and bake
Fill the pie dish with freshly‑gathered cranberries.
Dissolve 1 tablespoon of sugar in a little water and pour it over the cranberries.
Cover the pie with the pastry, brush lightly with milk, and sprinkle sugar on top.
Bake for 30 minutes until 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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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Fresh cranberries
- Provide the tart filling and its sharp, tart flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the tart and balances the cranberries' acidity.
- Short pastry
- Forms the crust that holds the filling and bakes crisp and golden.
- Milk
- Brushed on the top crust to promote even browning.
The step that matters
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Cranberries release a lot of liquid as they heat. Baking until the top is golden and the pastry is set helps the crust crisp and keeps the filling from making the base soggy.
“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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