Name: Mince Pie with Dates
Ingredients: 1 cup walnut meal; 1 cup ground dates; 2 cups chopped apples; 2 tablespoons granola; ½ cup seedless raisins; ¼ teaspoon caraway seed; ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract; ½ pound dried ground citron or ½ cup finely chopped fresh citron; a pinch of salt; sugar to taste; water as needed

Why it works: Apple and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,501 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

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.

Apple + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,501 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Dates + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together218 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Walnut + datestop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together302 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Raisin + carawaytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together75 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Swap the caraway

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (walnut, dates, apple, raisin, vanilla, sugar):

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Clovefits better
Carawaythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against walnut, dates, apple, raisin, vanilla, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Mince Pie with Dates