Name: Hickory Nut Kisses
Ingredients: 6 egg whites, beaten; 1 pound powdered sugar; 1 pint chopped hickory nuts

Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Hickory Nut Kisses

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

6 egg whites, beaten
1 pound powdered sugar
1 pint chopped hickory nuts

Directions

The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).

Make and bake

In a bowl, combine the beaten egg whites, powdered sugar, and chopped hickory nuts.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto an inverted baking pan.
Bake in the preheated oven until set.

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.

Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + nutstop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,228 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Egg + nutstop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,624 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites: Whipped whites give the kisses their airy, light structure as they set in the oven.
Powdered sugar: Sweetens the mixture and helps it bind into a stable, dry-textured drop.
Hickory nuts: Add nutty flavour and chopped texture throughout each kiss.