Why it works: Berry and cranberry share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 68 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
The recipe
8 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
Drain the cut yams well and spread them evenly in an 8-inch square baking dish.
Spoon the whole berry cranberry sauce over the yams and gently break up the berries with a spoon so they are spread through the dish.
In a bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, quick oats and cinnamon.
Add the softened butter and rub it in with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly.
Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the yams and bake for 25 minutes.
Scatter the mini marshmallows over the top and bake 8 to 10 minutes more, until the marshmallows are puffed and lightly golden.
Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Berry + cranberrytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together68 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Cinnamon + cranberrytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together116 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Cinnamon + yamtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Oats + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,394 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Flour + yamtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together58 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the yam
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon, butter, berry, cranberry):
- Sweet potatobetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Yamthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon, butter, berry, cranberry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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