Name: Petits Fours
Ingredients: sugar; water; chocolate; powdered sugar; rum syrup

Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Petits Fours

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 100°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Cook sugar and water until it reaches 38 degrees Celsius (100°F).
Stir the mixture continuously on the edges and bottom of the pan until it thickens and forms a light film.
Test the consistency by taking a small amount; it should not reveal the biscuit after 20 seconds.
If too thick, add a little water cautiously.
Once ready, coat the items with chocolate and place them in the oven.

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.

Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Chocolate + rumtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together286 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,908 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Chocolate + syruptop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,239 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).