Name: Chestnut Fruit Cake
Ingredients: 2 cups mashed chestnuts; 2 cups chopped figs or dates; 1 cup sifted apples; coarse sea salt (optional)

Why it works: Fig and apple match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 238 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Chestnut Fruit Cake

Ingredients

2 cups mashed chestnuts
2 cups chopped figs or dates
1 cup sifted apples
coarse sea salt (optional)

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Blanch the chestnuts and boil until tender.
Rub the chestnuts through a sieve or colander.
Cook the apples in minimal water until done, then sift through a sieve.

Mix and bake

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
If desired, add a little salt.
Bake in an oiled tin at 350°F (175°C) until brown on top.

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.

Fig + appletop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together238 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Chestnut + figtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together21 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).
Chestnut + appletop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together95 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Chestnuts: Provide the bulk and starchy, mealy body of the cake.
Figs or dates: Add concentrated sweetness and moisture, with chewy texture once baked.
Apples: Add moisture and natural pectin that helps hold the mixture together.