Name: Banana-Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Yield: Makes 16 servings
Ingredients: Nonstick vegetable oil spray; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar; 3 large eggs; 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas; 1 cup sour cream; 1 10-ounce bag mini chocolate chips; 2 cups creamy peanut butter; 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract; Chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, and chocolate kisses; Two 8x8x2" cake pans

Why it works: Vanilla and banana are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,430 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

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.

Vanilla + bananatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,430 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Swap the banana

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, cream, chocolate):

Coconutfits better
Raspberryfits about as well
Figfits about as well
Bananathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, cream, chocolate. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Peanut	1 oz (28g)	161
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Banana	1 medium (118g)	105
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cake	not in our table	0

Banana-Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting