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Dessert

Baseema

A Sudanese coconut and yogurt cake topped with a lemon syrup.

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Why it works: Vanilla and coconut 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 ↓

Baseema

Oven200° Celsius
Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Beat eggs and sugar.

  2. Add oil and yogurt and mix.

  3. In a separate bowl sift flour and add baking powder and coconut, then add to the mixture while stirring.

  4. Spread mixture onto greased tray.

Bake and soak

  1. Bake for 30 minutes 200° Celsius.

  2. In another saucepan, mix sugar and lemon with water, boil until syrup thickens.

  3. When cake is cooked, pour syrup over evenly so it soaks through.

  4. Pour out into a bowl to cool and eat warm.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1210Calories
40 gProtein
59 gFat
128 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Vanilla + coconuttop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Yogurt + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,191 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Butter + coconuttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,467 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and lift as the cake bakes.
Flour
Forms the main structure of the cake crumb.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and turns light.
Butter or oil
Adds fat and moisture, giving a tender, soft crumb.
Yogurt
Adds moisture and mild acidity, keeping the crumb tender.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and stay moist.

The step that matters

Pour the syrup over the hot cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. A warm cake has open pores that let the syrup soak evenly through. Pouring over a cooled cake leaves the syrup sitting on top, making the surface wet and the centre dry.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Bananafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Blueberryfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

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

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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