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Dessert

Fruit Filling

A light fruit filling made with citron, raisins, almonds, figs, egg whites, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Fruit Filling

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, combine the chopped citron, raisins, almonds, and figs.

  2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Make the filling

  1. Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites, mixing well.

  2. Fold the fruit mixture into the egg white mixture.

Assemble

  1. Spread the filling between layers of hot cake.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Almond + figtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together519 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Raisin + figtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together737 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they give the filling its light, airy structure.
Sugar
Added to the whipped whites, it sweetens the filling and helps stabilize the foam.
Figs
Chopped figs add chewy texture and natural sweetness to the filling.
Raisins
Chopped raisins add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.
Almonds
Chopped blanched almonds add crunch and nutty flavor.
Citron
Finely chopped candied citron adds bright, tangy aroma and sweetness.

The step that matters

Fold the fruit into the egg whites. Folding gently preserves the air whipped into the egg whites. Stirring vigorously deflates the foam, leaving a dense, flat filling instead of a light one.

Swap the fig

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, almond, egg, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits about as well
  2. Figthe original
  3. Datesfits less well
  4. Coconutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, almond, egg, sugar. 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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