Name: Classic Coconut Cake
Yield: Makes 10 servings
Ingredients: Nonstick vegetable oil spray; 2 cups all purpose flour; 1 1/3 cups (loosely packed) sweetened flaked coconut; 1 cup buttermilk; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 cups sugar; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 5 large egg yolks; 4 large egg whites, room temperature; 3 1/3 cups powdered sugar; 1 8-ounce package philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature; 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 cup (about) sweetened flaked coconut

Why it works: Coconut and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,294 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. 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.

Coconut + vanillatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,294 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Butter + cream cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,747 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,973 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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 coconut

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

Blueberryfits about as well
Coconutthe original
Bananafits about as well
Strawberryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, buttermilk, sugar, butter, egg, cream cheese, vanilla. 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
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12

Classic Coconut Cake