Name: Cocoanut Pudding
Ingredients: 1 lb butter; 9 eggs; 1 lb sugar; ½ cup rose water

Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Cocoanut Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

1 lb butter
9 eggs
1 lb sugar
½ cup rose water

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the beaten eggs and mix well.
Stir in the rose water.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, with or without a crust.

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.

Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,584 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Butter + rosetop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,922 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).