Lemon Turnovers

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together78,219 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together92,116 recipes

   Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

5. Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together19,053 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Flour and butter 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

Flour

Provides the main structure that holds the batter together.

Eggs

Bind the mixture and help it set as it cooks.

Butter

Adds richness and fat that keeps the cooked texture tender.

Powdered sugar

Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown lightly.

Lemon rind

Adds fragrant citrus aroma from the oils in the zest.

The step that matters

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg, milk):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Raisinfits better
3. Figfits better
4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.