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Date Sandwiches

A sandwich made with chopped dates and thick cream spread between rye or graham bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Date Sandwiches

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine chopped dates and thick cream until well mixed.

  2. Spread the mixture between two slices of rye or graham bread.

  3. Butter the bread if desired.

  4. Cut the sandwiches into halves or quarters and serve.

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.

  1. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Dates + ryetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Dates + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together513 recipes

    Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

  4. Rye + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together348 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Cream + ryetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together150 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Dates
Provide sweetness and a soft, sticky filling that holds the sandwich together.
Thick cream
Adds richness and moisture, binding the chopped dates into a spreadable filling.
Rye or graham bread
Supplies a sturdy base with a slightly nutty, earthy flavour that contrasts the sweet filling.

Swap the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, rye, butter):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, rye, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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