Name: Fresh Orange Icing
Ingredients: 2 to 1/2 cups eggs (2 medium); 1 cup pitted dates, chopped fine; 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts; 2-1/4 cups cake or all-purpose flour; 1-1/2 cups sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt; 6 eggs; 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; 1/2 cup salad oil; 3/4 cup water; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Why it works: Dates and vanilla work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 218 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

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.

Dates + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together218 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Nuts + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together638 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,241 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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 (egg, dates, nuts, flour, sugar, vanilla, cream):

Figfits better
Raisinfits better
Coconutfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, dates, nuts, flour, sugar, vanilla, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Fresh Orange Icing