Name: Orange Cream
Ingredients: 1 good orange; 2 tablespoons apricot marmalade; vanilla cream (omit vanilla flavoring)

Why it works: Apricot and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 608 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Orange Cream

Ingredients

1 good orange
2 tablespoons apricot marmalade
vanilla cream (omit vanilla flavoring)

Directions

Make the orange cream

Prepare the vanilla cream as directed, but omit the vanilla flavoring.
Add the strained juice of the orange and the finely grated rind.
Mix in the apricot marmalade until well combined.

Set and serve

Pour the mixture into a prepared mold.
Place in the freezer until set, about 1 to 1.5 hours.

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.

Apricot + vanillatop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together608 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Orange + vanillatop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,371 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange + apricottop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together703 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together12,301 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Apricot + creamtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,116 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Vanilla and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,301 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

Orange: Its juice and rind add bright acidity and citrus aroma to the cream.
Apricot marmalade: Adds sweetness and fruit flavor, and its pectin helps the mixture hold a set.
Vanilla cream: Provides the rich, fatty base that gives the dessert its smooth, creamy texture.