Name: Meyer Lemon-Greek Yogurt Pound Cake Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Yield: one 9-inch cake
Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 cup granulated sugar; 4 large eggs; 1 Tablespoon grated Meyer lemon zest; 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt (about 2 6-ounce containers); 1/3 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice; 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted and cooled; 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (6-ounce container)

Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. 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.

Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla + yogurttop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,191 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + yogurttop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,333 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, yogurt, chocolate):

Coconutfits better
Figfits better
Bananafits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, yogurt, chocolate. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Meyer Lemon-Greek Yogurt Pound Cake Recipe