Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Strawberry Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Place the hulled strawberries in a pie plate.
Assemble the pie
Sprinkle the strawberries with sugar, flour, and butter pieces, then add water to the mixture.
Cover with the upper crust, wetting the edges to seal.
Bake and serve
Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden.
Let cool, then dust with powdered sugar if desired.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Strawberries
- Provide the main fruit filling, along with juice that moistens the pie and sweetness and aroma.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps draw juice out of the strawberries.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the strawberry juices so the filling sets rather than running out when sliced.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing flavor and a softer mouthfeel to the filling.
- Pie crust
- Forms the top and encloses the filling, browning to a golden finish in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake until the filling bubbles. The flour only thickens the strawberry juices once they reach a bubbling heat. Pulling the pie early leaves a runny filling that can soak the crust and make slices collapse.
“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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