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Dessert

Transparent Pie

A custard pie with a meringue topping made from sugar, butter, cream, eggs, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Transparent Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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.

Make the filling

  1. Cream the sugar and butter together.

  2. Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately.

  3. Whip in the yolks, reserving enough whites for the top.

  4. Add the remaining egg whites and mix well.

  5. Incorporate the cream and vanilla, mixing until combined.

  6. Line a deep dish with pie crust and pour in the mixture.

Bake and top

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.

  2. Once baked, beat the reserved egg whites with sugar and flavoring.

  3. Spread the meringue on top of the pie and return to the oven to brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Eggs
Yolks and whites set the filling and, with the whites, build the structure of the pie.
Butter
Adds richness and a tender texture to the filling.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps the meringue hold its shape.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, giving the filling a smooth, soft body.

The step that matters

Spread the meringue on top of the pie and return to the oven to brown.. Egg whites beaten with sugar form a foam that can weep or collapse if under-beaten or spread unevenly, and a short, watched bake is needed so the meringue browns without overcooking the custard beneath.

“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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