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Dessert

Nut and Fruit Filling

A mixture of nuts, candied cherries, raisins, figs, candied orange peel, and candied lemon peel used as a cake filling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Nut and Fruit Filling

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine the chopped nuts, candied cherries, raisins, figs, candied orange peel, and candied lemon peel. Mix well until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

  2. Spread the mixture between layers of 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. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Walnut + figtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together373 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Fig + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together407 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Walnut + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,149 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Walnuts, hickory nuts, or pecans
Provide crunch and a rich, toasty flavor that contrasts with the soft fruit.
Candied cherries
Add sweetness and chewy texture with bright color.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and a soft, chewy texture.
Figs
Add moisture, body and a jammy sweetness to the filling.
Candied orange peel
Adds citrus aroma and a sweet, slightly bitter note.
Candied lemon peel
Adds bright citrus aroma and a touch of acidity.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (walnut, fig, orange, lemon):

  1. Cranberryfits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against walnut, fig, orange, lemon. 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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