Why it works: Sugar and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,182 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Cranberry Tart
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the fruit
Wash the cranberries thoroughly.
Partially cook the cranberries before putting them into the tart.
Assemble the tart
Fill the pie dish with the fruit, adding sugar to taste.
Cover with a good crust.
Brush the crust with cold water.
Sprinkle white sugar over the crust.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
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 + clovetop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together17,182 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and clove barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 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
- Cranberries
- Provide the tart's tart, fruity filling that the sugar balances.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharp acidity of the cranberries.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the fruit and forms the baked, browned pastry shell.
The step that matters
Partially cook the cranberries before filling. Cranberries are firm and acidic, and partly cooking them softens the fruit and begins breaking down its pectin so the filling sets evenly rather than staying raw or watery in the baked tart.
“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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