Why it works: Nutmeg and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,746 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cheesecake
Ingredients
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 the filling
Press the curd in a napkin to absorb excess moisture.
Pound the curd thoroughly in a mortar and mix in the other ingredients until a soft paste forms.
Assemble and bake
Line tartlet pans with puff pastry trimmings.
Garnish each with the cheese custard and place a strip of candied peel on top.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until lightly browned.
Finish and serve
Sprinkle with sifted sugar and serve hot.
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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Nutmeg + orangetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,746 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Pressed curd
- Forms the body of the filling, giving the cheesecake its dense, creamy texture.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the filling and set it into a soft custard when baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the texture of the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
- Ratafias
- Add a crisp, almond-like flavour and some dry crumb to the filling.
The step that matters
Pressing the curd. Curd holds excess whey, which would make the filling watery and loose. Pressing it in a cloth removes this moisture so the paste can set firm and smooth when baked.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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