Name: Peanut Paste
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 1½ lbs brown sugar; 1 quart parched peanuts

Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Peanut Paste

Ingredients

2 eggs
1½ lbs brown sugar
1 quart parched peanuts

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the mixture

Beat the eggs well and add the brown sugar.
Pound the parched peanuts until fine and mix them in.
Grease a pan well and pour the mixture in.

Bake and serve

Bake until it puffs up all over.
When cold, cut into squares.

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.

Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + peanuttop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,545 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Egg + peanuttop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,351 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Beaten eggs bind the mixture and help it set and puff in the oven.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the paste brown as it bakes.
Parched peanuts: Provide the main body and nutty flavor once pounded fine.