Name: Lemon Sandwiches
Ingredients: 1 lb fine puff pastry; 4 to 6 oz apricot or peach jam; 1 beaten egg or water for sealing; powdered sugar for dusting

Why it works: Apricot and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,630 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Lemon Sandwiches

Oven, in the book's wordsA fierce oven

Ingredients

1 lb fine puff pastry
4 to 6 oz apricot or peach jam
1 beaten egg or water for sealing
powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

The book says “a fierce oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Roll out the puff pastry very thin and cut into squares.
Place one square on a baking sheet and spread jam on it, leaving a 1-inch border.
Moisten the edges with beaten egg or water.
Roll out a second square of pastry and place it over the jam.
Seal the edges securely to prevent the jam from escaping.
Brush the top with water and dust with powdered sugar.
Mark the pastry into uniform divisions with the back of a knife.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 25 minutes.
Cut into pieces while still hot.

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.

Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Apricot + eggtop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,712 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).