Name: Lemon Raisin Tart
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar; 2 lemons, juiced and zested; ½ teaspoon corn starch, dissolved in a little cold water; 12 raisins, stewed, cut, and seeded; 2 pie crusts

Why it works: Sugar and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Lemon Raisin Tart

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
2 lemons, juiced and zested
½ teaspoon corn starch, dissolved in a little cold water
12 raisins, stewed, cut, and seeded
2 pie crusts

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, combine sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and corn starch mixture.
Add the prepared raisins and mix well.

Assemble and bake

Pour the filling into one pie crust and cover with the second crust.
Bake until golden brown.

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.

Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + corntop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,927 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + raisintop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Corn + raisintop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together180 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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

Sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
Lemons: Juice and zest supply acidity and bright citrus aroma to the filling.
Corn starch: Thickens the lemon juice into a set, sliceable filling as it heats.
Raisins: Add concentrated sweetness and a chewy texture to the filling.
Pie crusts: Form the structure that encloses the filling and browns in the oven.