Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Butterscotch 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.
Make the filling
Combine brown sugar (or a mixture of brown sugar and maple syrup), butter, and enough water to dissolve the sugar in a saucepan. Cook until thick.
In a separate bowl, mix milk, flour, and egg yolks. Add the thickened mixture from step 1 and cook until combined.
Pour the filling into a baked pie crust.
Top and bake
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, then sweeten to taste.
Spread the meringue over the pie filling.
Place the pie in a 350°F (175°C) oven to brown the meringue.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Brown sugar
- Provides the caramel-like sweetness and molasses flavour that define butterscotch.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a buttery aroma to the filling.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that thickens into a creamy custard.
- Flour
- Thickens the filling so it sets into a sliceable texture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the custard, adding body and colour.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a meringue that forms a light, airy topping that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard after adding the thickened mixture. Egg yolks thicken when heated but can scramble if overheated or cooked too fast. Cooking gently while stirring keeps the filling smooth and properly set.
“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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