Name: Fruit Sandwich
Ingredients: ¼ pound candied cherries, finely chopped; ¼ pound seeded raisins, finely chopped; ¼ pound dates, finely chopped; ¼ pound shredded coconut; 2 tablespoons grape juice; juice of ½ orange; almond butter; slices of bread

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 Sandwich

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

Finely chop the candied cherries, seeded raisins, and dates.
In a bowl, mix the chopped fruits with shredded coconut, grape juice, and orange juice.

Assemble the sandwiches

Spread almond butter on slices of bread.
Top with the fruit mixture and place another slice of bread 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.

Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Coconut + almondtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,093 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Orange + almondtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,125 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Grape + orangetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,771 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Candied cherries: Provide chewy texture and concentrated sweetness to the filling.
Seeded raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness to the filling.
Dates: Add soft, sticky texture and natural sweetness to bind the filling.
Shredded coconut: Adds chewy texture and a toasty, aromatic flavor to the filling.
Almond butter: Adds fat and richness, and acts as a moisture barrier on the bread.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (dates, coconut, grape, orange, almond, butter, bread):

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Apricotfits better
Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against dates, coconut, grape, orange, almond, butter, bread. 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.