Name: Macaroon Dessert
Ingredients: ½ pound almond macaroons, broken into quarters; ¼ pound pecan nut meats, broken small; 1 bottle cream, whipped

Why it works: Almond and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,130 recipes. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓

Macaroon Dessert

Ingredients

½ pound almond macaroons, broken into quarters
¼ pound pecan nut meats, broken small
1 bottle cream, whipped

Directions

Mix the almond macaroons, pecan nut meats, and whipped cream together in a bowl.
Chill the mixture in the refrigerator before serving.

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.

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.

Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,130 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Almond + meattop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together486 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Meat + creamtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,248 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Almond macaroons: Provide the main structure and sweet, almond-flavored body of the dessert.
Pecan nut meats: Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor that contrasts with the soft cream.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness, and softens the macaroons as the mixture chills.