Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Sweet Potato 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, and butter until smooth.
Stir in the wine, brandy, rose water, and cream until well mixed.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and smooth the top.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until set and lightly browned.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Brandy + rosetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together560 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet potatoes
- Provide the bulk and body of the filling, giving it a smooth, dense texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the filling brown lightly during baking.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Sweet cream
- Adds moisture and richness, helping the filling set into a creamy custard-like texture.
- Eggs (in the method)
- Not in the record; omit.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Pulling the pie too early leaves the filling loose, while over-baking can make it dry and cracked. Watching for a set center and light browning ensures a smooth, sliceable texture.
Swap the sweet potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, wine, brandy, rose, cream):
- Potatofits about as well
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Sweet potatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, wine, brandy, rose, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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