Name: Cocoanut Creams
Ingredients: uncooked cream; fresh grated cocoanut; confectioners' sugar; cochineal syrup (optional); grated chocolate (optional)

Why it works: Sugar and syrup 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 ↓

Cocoanut Creams

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the uncooked cream as directed in a previous recipe.
While the cream is still soft, mix in fresh grated coconut to taste.
Add enough confectioners' sugar to mold the mixture into balls.
Roll the balls in additional fresh grated coconut.
For color, add a few drops of cochineal syrup for pink or a few spoonfuls of grated chocolate for brown, then roll in grated coconut.
Alternatively, shape the cream into a flat cake and cut into squares or strips.

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.

Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cream + syruptop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,964 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Uncooked cream: Forms the soft base that the sugar and coconut are mixed into and shaped from.
Fresh grated coconut: Adds moisture, chewy texture and coconut flavor to the mixture and its coating.
Confectioners' sugar: Stiffens the soft cream so it holds its shape and adds sweetness.

“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.