Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Strawberry Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the crust
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cover a pie plate with a thin layer of rich pastry and create a rim.
Fill the center with bread crust and bake until done.
Fill and bake
Remove the bread crusts and fill the pie with strawberries coated in powdered sugar.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then add sugar and spread over the strawberries.
Brown slightly in the oven and serve with cream.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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 fruit filling, with sweetness and aroma that carry the pie.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff meringue that sets and browns over the berries.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the meringue and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
- Rich pastry
- Forms the crisp, sturdy shell that holds the filling.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be whipped to stiff peaks so the meringue holds its shape and sets. Under-whipped whites spread flat and weep, and the topping will not brown well.
“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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