Why it works: Cream and sugar 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
Make the custard
In a saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a boil.
In a bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, and corn starch.
Slowly add the hot milk and cream mixture to the egg mixture, stirring constantly.
Assemble and finish
Pour the mixture into a baked pie crust.
Top with nutmeg and frost as desired.
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.
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Nutmeg + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together563 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Binds the filling and helps it set as it thickens.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk and cream into a smooth, sliceable custard.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds richness.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a richer, silkier texture in the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and softens its flavor.
The step that matters
Adding the hot milk mixture to the eggs. Pouring hot liquid into the eggs too quickly can scramble them. Adding it slowly while stirring constantly gently warms the eggs so the custard stays smooth.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, milk, sugar, corn):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Gingerfits less well
- Tarragonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, milk, sugar, corn. 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.
More cream pie recipes
You might also like
Corn Cake90 recipes
Corn Starch Cake89 recipes
Corn Cakes22 recipes
Green Corn Pudding14 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.