Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Corn Starch 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.
Make the custard
Combine corn starch and milk in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in egg yolks and sugar. Add flavoring to taste.
Pour the mixture into deep plates and bake at 350°F (175°C) until set.
Top and brown
Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form. Gradually add 3 tablespoons of sugar and continue beating until glossy.
Spread the meringue over the baked pie and brown lightly under the broiler.
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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk into a smooth custard as it heats and gelatinises.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and body.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the custard set as it bakes.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a meringue that gives a light, airy topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and stabilises the meringue as it is beaten.
The step that matters
Beating the meringue to stiff peaks. Egg whites must be whipped until stiff and glossy before the sugar is fully incorporated, because under-whipped whites will weep and collapse, while sugar added gradually helps the foam hold its shape.
“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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