Name: Molasses Lemon Pie
Ingredients: 1 large juicy lemon; 1 cup seeded raisins; 1 cup molasses; ½ cup cold water; Flour for sprinkling; Pie crust

Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Molasses Lemon Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Grate the rind of the lemon and slice it very finely.
Line a pie dish with the pie crust.
Distribute half of the lemon slices, half of the raisins, half of the molasses, and half of the cold water in the crust.
Sprinkle lightly with flour.
Cover with a very thin wafer crust.
Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Moisten the edge of the crust to prevent boiling over and cover with the upper crust.
Optionally, use a strip of new muslin around the edge to retain the juice, which can be removed after baking.

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.

Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Lemon + raisintop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,404 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).