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Fruit Filling

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Fruit Filling

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine 2 cups of sugar and 2 egg whites to make a boiled icing.

  2. Add 4 tablespoons of chopped citron, 4 tablespoons of chopped seeded raisins, and ¼ pound of chopped figs.

  3. Stir in ½ cup of blanched and chopped almonds and ½ teaspoon of orange extract.

  4. Mix well to create a delicious filling for dark layer cakes.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Fig + almondtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together519 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

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

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

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

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

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, raisin, fig, almond):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Datesfits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Orangethe original

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

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