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Dessert

Banana Filling for Cake

A banana-based filling for cake made with bananas, egg whites, sugar, orange juice, and grated rind.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Alexander, Agnes B. (Agnes Baldwin), 1875-1970 · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Banana and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,118 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Banana Filling for Cake

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix sugar and grated rind.

  2. Add mashed bananas.

  3. Whip egg whites and beat mixture into it.

  4. Whipped cream may be used in place of eggs.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

294Calories
9 gProtein
6 gFat
55 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Banana1 medium (118g)105
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

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

By Alexander, Agnes B. (Agnes Baldwin), 1875-1970. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

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. Banana + orangetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,118 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Banana + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,102 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

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

  4. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Banana + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,920 recipes

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

Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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

Bananas
Adds moisture, sweetness and banana flavour to the filling.
Eggs
Whipped whites trap air, giving the filling lightness and body.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps draw aroma from the orange rind.
Orange
Rind adds aroma and juice adds brightness and acidity.

The step that matters

Whip egg whites and beat mixture into it. Whites hold air only until they are stiff but not dry. Overwhipped whites turn grainy and collapse, leaving a dense filling. Folding gently keeps the air in the mixture.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (banana, egg, sugar):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against banana, egg, sugar. 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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