Why it works: Sugar and red currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
A Cherry Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slack oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line your pie dish with the crust.
Fill the pie
Sprinkle sugar at the bottom of the dish.
Add the cherries and top with more sugar.
If using, add red currants on top.
Cover with the pie lid and seal the edges.
Bake
Bake in the oven for 30-40 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 + red curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cherries
- Provide the main fruit filling and its tart flavor once cooked.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps draw out juices as the fruit cooks.
- Pie crust
- Forms the structure that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
- Red currants
- Add extra tartness and a bright acidic note to the filling.
The step that matters
Sealing the edges. If the lid is not sealed well, juices bubble out and escape while baking, leaving the filling dry and the crust soggy underneath.
“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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