Skip to main content

Christmas Pie

"This creamy pie with a coconut meringue topping is a tradition in my family. My grandmother started making this pie one Christmas and it was a standby from that point on. This recipe contains raw eggs. We recommend that pregnant women, young children, the elderly and the infirm do not consume raw eggs. For more information visit our Hints and Tips pages."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Coconut and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,091 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓

The recipe

1 - 9 inch pie
Prep20 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and let it stand for 5 minutes to soften.

  2. Whisk the first portion of white sugar, the flour and the milk in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbling, about 8 minutes.

  3. Remove from heat and stir in the softened gelatin until dissolved, then the almond extract. Cool to room temperature, stirring now and then, about 20 minutes.

  4. Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the egg whites, cream of tartar and second portion of white sugar until the mixture reaches 160°F (71°C) and the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes.

  5. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat the egg white mixture until it forms stiff, glossy peaks, about 4 minutes.

  6. Gently fold the thawed whipped topping and about half of the shredded coconut into the cooled custard, then fold in the meringue until no streaks remain.

  7. Spoon the filling into the baked pie shell and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

  8. Chill the pie in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours until set before slicing.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Coconut + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,091 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  2. Gelatin + creamtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Flour + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together8,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + coconuttop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,642 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Gelatin + sugartop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gelatin, sugar, flour, milk, egg, cream, almond):

  1. Vanillabetter flavor fit
  2. Raisinabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Figabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Coconutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, sugar, flour, milk, egg, cream, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).