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Pear Butter

"Pear butter is lightly scented with orange and nutmeg. This is an old recipe from a dear friend. Its taste is so good in toast or even on top of steak or chicken."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 5 ingredients
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Pear Butter

Why it works: Orange and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,746 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Pear Butter

2 pints
Prep30 min
Cook1 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

224Calories
2 gProtein
1 gFat
56 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pear1 medium (178g)101
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Pear + orangetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together323 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Pear + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together155 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Pear + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,079 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together23,364 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,364 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 nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

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