Name: Drunken Monkey Bread Recipe
Yield: 8-12 servings
Ingredients: 3 lbs. frozen bread dough or rolls, not the partially bakes varieties (Rhodes); 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 Tb. pumpkin spice spice (or 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon + 1/2 tsp. nutmeg + 1/2 tsp. clove + 1/2 tsp ginger); 2 1/2 sticks melted butter (1 1/4 cups); 3/4 cup brown sugar; 1/4 cup Bourbon (Amaretto, Cognac, Brandy...); Zest of 1 orange

Why it works: Bread and butter match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 27,145 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

The recipe

8-12 servings

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

3 lbs. frozen bread dough or rolls, not the partially bakes varieties (Rhodes)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tb. pumpkin spice spice (or 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon + 1/2 tsp. nutmeg + 1/2 tsp. clove + 1/2 tsp ginger)
2 1/2 sticks melted butter (1 1/4 cups)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Bourbon (Amaretto, Cognac, Brandy...)
Zest of 1 orange

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By aspicyperspective. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Bread + buttertop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together27,145 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + brandytop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together5,127 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Brandy + orangetop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,705 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Bread + brandytop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together976 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Sugar + brandytop 9% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together11,939 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, pumpkin, butter, brandy):

Vanillabetter flavor fit
Figbetter flavor fit
Applebetter flavor fit
Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, pumpkin, butter, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

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