Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Cherry Pie
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
Wash and seed the tart cherries.
Line pie pans with a stiff cream paste, rolling the crust thin.
Sprinkle a little flour and sugar on the bottom of each pan.
Assemble and bake
Add the cherries, then cover with a thin top crust.
Pinch the edges together and prick with a fork.
Cut a cross-slit in the center for steam to escape.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is done.
Let the pies cool completely before serving.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tart cherries
- Provide the fruit filling and its tart flavor.
- Flour
- Thickens the cherry juices as they bake into a filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the tart cherries and balances their acidity.
- Stiff cream paste
- Forms the crust that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Cutting the cross-slit in the top crust. Steam builds up as the cherries heat. Without vents in the top crust, pressure can force juices out and make the filling watery or 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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