Name: Prune Whip
Ingredients: 1 pound prunes; ⅔ cup sugar; 4 egg whites; 1 orange (grated rind and juice); whipped cream or plain cream for serving

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Prune Whip

Ingredients

Directions

Make the prune base

Stew the prunes in as little water as possible until very tender.
Remove the pits and stir the prunes until fine.
Add the sugar and heat over the fire, stirring constantly until boiling hot.

Whip and finish

Pour the mixture over the beaten egg whites and continue beating for 10 minutes.
Add the grated rind and juice of the orange, then set aside to cool.
Serve with whipped or plain cream.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,212 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42,166 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Orange + creamtop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,170 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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

Prunes: Provide the main body, sweetness and fruity flavor of the whip.
Egg whites: Whipped into foam, they lighten the texture and give the dessert its airy structure.
Sugar: Sweetens the prune purée and helps stabilize the beaten egg white foam.
Orange: Adds bright citrus aroma and acidity that balances the sweetness of the prunes.

The step that matters

Pouring the hot prune mixture over the egg whites. The prune mixture must be hot enough to be safely handled, but the whites should be beaten thoroughly so they hold air. Adding the hot purée while beating keeps the foam light and evenly combined instead of deflating.