Why it works: Banana and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,102 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Baked Bananas
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Strip off one side of the banana and loosen the shell.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over each banana.
Bake and serve
Place them in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about twenty minutes.
Lift carefully and serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Banana + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,102 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bananas
- Provide the fruit that softens and turns sweet and tender as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the banana and helps the surface caramelize and brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Lift carefully and serve. Baked bananas are soft after baking, so they can break apart or collapse. Lifting gently keeps them intact while the flesh is still hot and fragile.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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