Name: Champagne Fizz
Ingredients: 2 quarts simple syrup; 1 ounce whisky or brandy; 2 ounces vanilla extract; 1 pint condensed milk; 2 ounces banana extract; ½ ounce soda foam; ½ ounce citric acid solution

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 ↓

Champagne Fizz

Ingredients

Directions

In a large bowl, combine 2 quarts of simple syrup, 1 ounce of whisky or brandy, and 2 ounces of vanilla extract.
Add 1 pint of condensed milk and mix well.
For banana syrup, mix 2 ounces of banana extract, ½ ounce of soda foam, and ½ ounce of citric acid solution.
Fill the balance of a gallon with the simple syrup mixture.
Use 1 ounce of this mixture for each glass.

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.

Vanilla + bananatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,430 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Syrup + condensed milktop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together118 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Syrup + vanillatop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,855 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Condensed milk + bananatop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together60 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Whisky + vanillatop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together135 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Condensed milk: Adds body, sweetness and a creamy texture to the mixture.
Whisky or brandy: Adds alcohol flavor and aroma to the base.

Swap the banana

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (syrup, whisky, vanilla, condensed milk):

Bananathe original
Cherryfits about as well
Pineapplefits about as well
Strawberryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against syrup, whisky, vanilla, condensed milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.