Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Banberry Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
1 bowl of raisins, 1 cup of sugar, 1 lemon, 1 egg, 1 Boston cracker (rolled), 1 tablespoonful of water, grate rind of lemon, use juice, chop pulp with raisins.
Frances H. Potter.
1¼ cups light brown sugar, ⅔ a cup of butter, 2 eggs, 3 tablespoonsful of milk, 1 teaspoonful each of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg, soda in the milk, 1 cup of raisins seeded and chopped. Flour enough to make them soft as you can roll them out.
Frances H. Potter.
⅔ a teacupful of butter, 1 coffee-cupful of sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 2 tablespoonsful of milk, 2 teaspoonsful of baking powder, 2 teaspoonsful of vanilla. Mix with flour as soft as can be well rolled out.
Mrs. W. G. Mercer.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cracker | 5 saltine crackers (15g) | 66 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Water | 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.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Coffee + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,391 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, raisin, butter, egg, milk, coffee, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Peachfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, raisin, butter, egg, milk, coffee, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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