Why it works: Apricot and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,630 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Apricot Meringue 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.
Prepare the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the chopped apricots, ½ cup sugar, and the beaten egg yolk.
Fill the pie crust with the apricot mixture and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let it stand for 2-3 minutes.
Top with meringue and bake
In another bowl, beat the egg white until stiff peaks form, then gradually add 2 teaspoons sugar.
Spread the meringue over the pie and return it to the oven 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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Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Apricot + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,712 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
- Apricots
- Provide the fruit flavor and the main body of the filling.
- Egg yolk
- Thickens the apricot filling as it bakes and adds richness.
- Egg white
- Whipped into stiff peaks to form the airy, browned meringue topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps stabilize the whipped egg white meringue.
The step that matters
Beating the egg white to stiff peaks. Egg white must be fully whipped before sugar is added gradually, since sugar dissolved into stiff foam holds its shape and browns well. Under-whipped or greasy whites weep or collapse in the oven.
Swap the apricot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Apricotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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