Why it works: Sugar and egg 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 ↓
Rich Gooseberry Pie or Tart
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and fill
Butter and flour the tart pan to prevent sticking.
Line the pan with puff pastry.
Add the gooseberries and sprinkle with sugar; do not add water.
Cover with puff pastry brushed with egg white and dust with fine sugar.
Bake and serve
Bake until golden but not overdone.
After baking, cut open the top to add prepared cream 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 + eggtop 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
- Gooseberries
- Provide the tart fruit filling and its juices, which set the pie's flavour and body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and balances the gooseberries' natural tartness.
- Puff pastry
- Forms flaky, layered crust that rises and crisps in the oven.
- Egg white
- Brushed on top to promote browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Bake until golden but not overdone. Puff pastry needs enough heat to puff and brown fully, but overbaking dries it and makes it brittle, while underbaking leaves the layers doughy and pale.
“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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