An Apple Pudding

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. Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together2,230 recipes

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

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

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Butter + appletop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together8,706 recipes

   Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

   Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

5. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together98,233 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

All-purpose flour

Forms the pastry structure that encloses the apple while it cooks.

Butter

Keeps the cold pastry crumbly and tender, and adds richness.

Codlin apple

Provides the fruit filling that softens and flavours the pudding as it boils.

Sugar

Sweetens the filling and balances the tartness of the apple.

Candied orange peel

Adds sweet citrus aroma and flavour to the apple filling.

The step that matters

Swap the orange

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

1. Vanillafits better
2. Raisinfits better
3. Pearfits better
4. Orangethe original

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