Why it works: Apricot and peach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 342 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Fairy Fancies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very gentle oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare short crust pastry and roll it thin and even.
Cut out a dozen small sheets using a large tin cutter.
Use two round cutters to form rings, one 1 inch in diameter and the other half that size.
Place the rings on the sheets as shown in the engraving.
Moisten each ring with egg white using a brush before placing it on the pastry.
Bake in a gentle oven at 300°F (150°C) until crisp and pale.
Fill each section of the pastry with a different preserve before serving.
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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Apricot + peachtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together342 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Peach + raspberrytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together190 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Apple + apricottop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together777 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
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Strawberry + raspberrytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together815 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, sweet).
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Strawberry + peachtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together228 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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