Why it works: Pecans and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,962 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Applesauce Pecan Filling
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the chopped pecans, cake crumbs, and brown sugar together to form a smooth spreading paste.
Spread the applesauce mixture on the dough while shaping it into desired forms.
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.
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Pecans + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,962 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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