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Dessert

Vinegar Pie

A custard pie made with eggs, sugar, flour, water, vinegar, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Vinegar Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Beat the eggs in a bowl.

  3. In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, water, vinegar, and nutmeg.

  4. Combine the egg mixture with the other ingredients.

  5. Pour the mixture into a pie crust.

Bake

  1. Bake until set, similar to a custard.

  2. Save the whites of 2 eggs for frosting.

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.

  1. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  3. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
Set the filling into a custard-like texture as they cook.
White sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps give it a smooth, tender body.
Flour
Thickens the liquid filling so it holds its shape when set.
Vinegar
Adds a sharp acidic tang that balances the sweetness of the filling.

The step that matters

Bake until set, similar to a custard. Egg proteins coagulate as they heat, so the filling firms into a custard. Underbaking leaves it runny, while overbaking can make it weep or crack. Check for a set center rather than relying on time alone.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, vinegar):

  1. Jalapenofits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Nutmegthe original
  4. Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, vinegar. 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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