Name: Butter Tarts
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar; ½ cup butter; 2 eggs; 1 cup currants or seedless raisins; 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1 tablespoon vanilla

Why it works: Butter and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Butter Tarts

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

Cream the butter in a bowl.
Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.
Incorporate the well-beaten eggs, fruit, and flavoring.

Fill and bake

Line patty tins with pastry, then fill with the mixture.
Bake in a moderate oven at 400°F (200°C).

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.

Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,856 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Butter: Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a tender texture.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and body to the filling, helping it hold together.
Eggs: Bind the filling and help it set into a firm, sliceable custard.
Currants or seedless raisins: Add sweetness, moisture, and chewy texture throughout the filling.
Lemon juice or vanilla: Adds acidity or aroma that balances the sweetness of the filling.