Name: Spice Nuts
Ingredients: 1 lb. flour; enough syrup to make a light dough; ½ lb. lard; ¼ lb. moist sugar; 1 oz. ginger; 1 oz. mixed spice

Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Spice Nuts

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).
Rub the lard, sugar, ginger, and mixed spice into the flour until well combined.
Make a well in the center and pour in the syrup, then mix until a dough forms.
Roll out the dough on a lightly dusted surface with ground rice to prevent sticking.
Cut out shapes about the size and thickness of a penny.
Place the cutouts on well-greased baking sheets, leaving half an inch between them.
Brush the tops with water and bake in the preheated oven.

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.

Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,564 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Syrup + gingertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together950 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + syruptop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,540 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).