Name: Persimmon Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup persimmon pulp; ½ cup sugar; ¼ cup butter (size of a walnut)

Why it works: Persimmon and walnut share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 24 recipes. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Persimmon Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1 cup persimmon pulp
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter (size of a walnut)

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make and bake the cake

In a bowl, mix the persimmon pulp, sugar, and butter until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 40 minutes.

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.

Persimmon + walnuttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together24 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Butter + walnuttop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,832 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Persimmon + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together75 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Persimmon + buttertop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together51 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Persimmon pulp: Provides moisture and natural sweetness, giving the cake a soft, tender crumb.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown during baking.
Butter: Adds fat, which contributes richness and a tender texture.