Name: A Croque-en-bouche Composed of Different Kinds of Fruits in Caramel
Ingredients: Greengages; Orleans plums; Grapes; Cherries; Pink pears (quartered); Oranges (quartered); Oil of almonds; Green angelica (for decoration); Spun sugar (for decoration)

Why it works: Plum and pear match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 245 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

A Croque-en-bouche Composed of Different Kinds of Fruits in Caramel

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruits by dipping them in caramel as directed in the previous recipe.
If using preserved fruits, drain and partially dry them before dipping.
Rub a plain high round mold with oil of almonds.
Arrange the fruits in circular rows, starting with larger fruits at the base and ending with smaller fruits on top.
Lift the croque-en-bouche off the mold onto a dish, ensuring the small fruits are on top.
Decorate with green angelica and spun sugar.

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.

Plum + peartop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together245 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Grape + peartop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together252 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Plum + grapetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together238 recipes

Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange + almondtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,125 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Almond + angelicatop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together135 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

Swap the angelica

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (plum, grape, pear, orange, almond, sugar):

Cinnamonfits better
Gingerfits better
Clovefits better
Angelicathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against plum, grape, pear, orange, almond, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.