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 ↓
Cream 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.
Make the sponge
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Separate the egg whites and yolks.
In a bowl, mix the yolks, sugar, flour, water, and baking powder.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.
Pour the batter into two pie plates and bake until golden.
Make the cream
For the cream, combine the yolks, milk, sugar, and flour in a basin over boiling water. Stir until thickened.
Assemble and finish
Slice the baked pie in half, spread half the cream on the bottom, and replace the top.
Beat the egg whites with a little sugar until stiff, then spread on top of the pie. Brown lightly in the oven.
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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Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Whites whipped to stiff foam give the sponge its lightness and structure.
- Flour
- Sets the batter and, in the cream, thickens the milk mixture as it heats.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the sponge rise in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sponge and cream, and helps the meringue stay stable and brown.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the cream, which thickens when gently heated with yolks and flour.
The step that matters
Stirring the cream until thickened. Heating over boiling water must be gentle and constant. Egg yolks scramble if overheated, and the starch in the flour needs steady heat to swell and thicken the custard.
“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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