Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Raspberry Cream Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Scald the flour and water together.
In a bowl, mix sugar, raspberries, cream, and the scalded flour mixture.
Add the eggs and butter, mixing well.
Bake
Pour into a pie crust and bake until set.
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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).
Flour and butter 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
- Eggs
- Set the filling as they cook, giving the custard structure and body.
- Flour
- Thickens the filling once scalded, giving it body and a smooth texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, silkier mouthfeel.
- Cream
- Adds fat and moisture, making the filling rich and tender.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps balance the tartness of the raspberries.
- Raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and acidity, along with moisture.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs firm up as they heat, so underbaking leaves the filling runny, while overbaking can make it curdle or weep. Baking until just set gives a smooth, sliceable filling.
“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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