Name: Strawberry Cocktail
Ingredients: well ripened strawberries; sugar; juice from 2 oranges; whipped cream; whole strawberry for garnish

Why it works: Orange and strawberry work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 726 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Strawberry Cocktail

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Cut strawberries in half and sprinkle with sugar, using half their weight.
Chill the strawberries on ice until ready to serve.

Serve

Place strawberries in cocktail glasses.
Pour orange juice over the strawberries.
Top with a spoonful of whipped cream and garnish with a whole strawberry.

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.

Orange + strawberrytop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together726 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream + strawberrytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,525 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + strawberrytop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,060 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,212 recipes

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

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

Strawberries: Provide the main fruit flavour and body of the drink.
Sugar: Sweetens the strawberries and draws out their juices.
Orange juice: Adds acidity and citrus brightness that balances the sweetness.
Whipped cream: Adds richness and a light, creamy texture on top.