Name: Peach Pandowdy
Ingredients: 1 quart canned peaches; 1 cup milk; 1 egg; ½ cup butter, melted; 2 teaspoons baking powder; flour, enough to make a thick dough

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Peach Pandowdy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Pour the canned peaches into a 2-quart baking dish.
In a bowl, mix the milk, egg, melted butter, baking powder, and enough flour to form a thick dough.

Assemble and bake

Roll out the dough and cover the peaches with it.
Cover the dish with paper and bake until the crust is done.

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Peach + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together781 recipes

Shared aroma: phellandrene (minty).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Peach + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together860 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

What each ingredient does

Peaches: Supply the fruit filling, adding moisture and sweetness beneath the crust.
Egg: Binds the dough and helps give it structure as it sets.
Butter: Adds fat for a richer, more tender crust.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the dough, helping it rise and lighten as it bakes.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the thick dough together.
Milk: Adds moisture to the dough and helps it come together.