Name: Fig Mould
Ingredients: ½ pound dried figs; small piece of lemon peel; 2 ounces white sugar; ⅓ cup claret or water; ¼ packet (about 1 tablespoon) gelatine; whipped cream or cold custard for serving

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Fig Mould

Ingredients

½ pound dried figs
small piece of lemon peel
2 ounces white sugar
⅓ cup claret or water
¼ packet (about 1 tablespoon) gelatine
whipped cream or cold custard for serving

Directions

Make the fig purée

Combine dried figs, lemon peel, and sugar in a saucepan.
Cover with claret or water and simmer gently until soft and liquid is nearly absorbed.
Pass the mixture through a wire sieve and press into a mould.

Set and serve

Dissolve gelatine in the remaining juice and pour over the figs in the mould.
Chill until set, then turn out and serve with whipped cream or cold custard.

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Fig + lemontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together763 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,241 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Fig + creamtop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together523 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Dried figs: Provide the main flavour and, once simmered and sieved, the body of the mould.
White sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the figs soften and taste rounded.
Gelatine: Sets the liquid so the mould holds its shape when turned out.

The step that matters

Simmering until the liquid is nearly absorbed. If the figs are left with too much liquid, the purée will be loose and the gelatine may not set it firmly. Cooking gently until soft lets the figs break down evenly, so the sieved mixture packs into a mould that holds its shape.