Name: Raisin Pie
Ingredients: 1 lb raisins; water (just enough to stew raisins); few drops of lemon juice; sugar (to taste); cornstarch (enough to thicken slightly); small piece of butter; 1 egg (yolk for filling, whole for pie)

Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Raisin Pie

Ingredients

1 lb raisins
water (just enough to stew raisins)
few drops of lemon juice
sugar (to taste)
cornstarch (enough to thicken slightly)
small piece of butter
1 egg (yolk for filling, whole for pie)

Directions

Wash the raisins and stew them in a small amount of water for a few minutes.
Add a few drops of lemon juice and sweeten to taste.
Stir in enough cornstarch to thicken the mixture slightly and add a small piece of butter.
Beat the yolk of 1 egg and mix it into the filling.
Use the whole egg to seal the top crust of the pie.
This recipe makes 3 good pies.

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.

Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).