Name: Cappuccino Cheesecake
Ingredients: 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into; small pieces; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour; 1/4 cup rice flour; 1/2 cup cocoa powder; Large pinch of salt; 1 1/2 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature; 1 cup granulated sugar; 4 eggs; 1 lb. sour cream; 2 Tbs. instant espresso powder, preferably; Medaglia DOro; 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar; 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter; 1/4 cup heavy cream; Cocoa powder for dusting

Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. 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.

Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + cream cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,747 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cocoa powder + creamtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together826 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Coffee	not in our table	0

Cappuccino Cheesecake