Name: Brandy Fllpp
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon powdered sugar; 3 tablespoons brandy; 1½ tablespoons water; 1 piece of lemon

Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Brandy Fllpp

Ingredients

1 tablespoon powdered sugar
3 tablespoons brandy
1½ tablespoons water
1 piece of lemon

Directions

In a tumbler, mix the powdered sugar, brandy, and water.
Add a piece of lemon.
Stir well and serve.

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 + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Brandy + lemontop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,351 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Sugar and lemon 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

Brandy: Provides the main spirit flavour and aroma that defines the drink.
Powdered sugar: Adds sweetness and dissolves easily into the liquid, balancing the spirit.
Lemon: Adds acidity and citrus aroma that brightens the sweet brandy.