Name: Compote of Fruit
Ingredients: one pound flour; one cup sugar; two tablespoonfuls butter; three teaspoonfuls star crystal baking powder; one cup of milk; two eggs

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 81,283 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Compote of Fruit

Ingredients

Directions

Make and bake the base

Combine flour, sugar, eggs, butter, baking powder, and milk; mix well.
Pour the mixture into a dripping pan and bake for ten minutes.

Top and finish

When done, spread any kind of fruit on top.
Pour a light custard over and bake again for ten minutes.

By Clarke, Mary Lamson. [from old catalog]. 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely 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

Flour: Provides the structure that holds the base together as it bakes.
Eggs: Bind the batter and help set it into a firm, tender base.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking so the base rises and stays light.
Butter: Adds fat that makes the base richer and more tender.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the base brown during baking.
Milk: Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and keeps the base soft.

“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.