Saskatchewan Orange-glazed Date Bars

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. Dates + pecanstop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together88 recipes

   Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

3. Dates + orangetop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together151 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

4. Butter + pecanstop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,416 recipes

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

5. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter 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

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour

Provides the structure that holds the bars together as they bake.

Dates

Soften into the batter and add moisture and natural sweetness.

Eggs

Bind the batter and help set its crumb as it bakes.

Baking soda

Reacts with the acidic orange juice to lift the batter as it bakes.

Butter

Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the crumb.

Pecans

Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor against the soft batter.

The step that matters

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, dates, butter, egg, milk, pecans):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Figfits better
3. Raisinfits better
4. Orangethe original

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