Name: Strawberry Peach Dessert
Ingredients: 1 10-3/4-ounce package pound cake, cut into 1/2-inch slices; 1 16-ounce can peach slices in juice, drained (reserve juice); 1 1/2 cups whipping cream; 1/2 cup confectioners sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 cups cooked rice; 1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced; 2 eggs, beaten; 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese; 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese; 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, divided

Why it works: Cottage cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 213 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. 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.

Cottage cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together213 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Peach + vanillatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together558 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Rice + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together879 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (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 peach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sugar, vanilla, rice, egg, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese):

Strawberryfits about as well
Pineapplefits about as well
Bananafits about as well
Peachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sugar, vanilla, rice, egg, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Peach	1 medium (150g)	59
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Strawberry	1 cup (152g)	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cake	not in our table	0

Strawberry Peach Dessert