Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cheese Cake 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make and bake the filling
In a bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, and soft smear cheese until well combined.
Pour the mixture into the pie crust.
Bake without an upper crust for about 30‑40 minutes or until set.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the filling into a sliceable custard as they coagulate in the oven.
- Soft smear cheese
- Provides the creamy body and tangy flavour that defines the cheesecake filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and contributes to its smooth texture.
The step that matters
Baking until set. Eggs thicken as their proteins coagulate with heat. Pulling the pie too early leaves a runny centre, while overbaking can make the custard curdle, crack, or weep.
“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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