Name: Prune Filling for Pie or Kuchen
Ingredients: one-half pound prunes; 2 cup sugar; lemon juice; cinnamon

Why it works: Lemon and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Prune Filling for Pie or Kuchen

Ingredients

one-half pound prunes
2 cup sugar
lemon juice
cinnamon

Directions

Prepare the prunes

Boil the prunes.
Stone the prunes and run them through a colander.

Finish the filling

Mix and mash well with the juice, add sugar to taste, and flavor with lemon juice or rind or cinnamon.
If used for pie, top with upper crust or add whipped cream sweetened and flavored.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

67Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

18 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Prune	not in our table	0

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

By New Orleans Federation of Clubs. 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.

Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,950 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

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

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Prunes: Provide the main body, moisture and fruity flavor once cooked and mashed.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the prunes and lemon.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
Cinnamon: Adds warm aroma and spice to the filling.