Name: Apricot Toast
Ingredients: 4 apricots; 2 tablespoons sugar; 2 tablespoons butter; 4 slices of bread, crusts removed

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Apricot Toast

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

4 apricots
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
4 slices of bread, crusts removed

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Halve the apricots and remove the stones.
Place each half, inner side up, on a slice of bread.
Put a piece of butter on each apricot half and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake and serve

Bake for 30 minutes.
Arrange on a glass dish with a piece of bread under each apricot.
Pour the syrup from cooking over the apricots and serve cold with rich cream.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Apricot + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,458 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Apricot + breadtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together178 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Apricots: Provide the fruit flavour and juicy, tender texture once baked.
Butter: Adds richness and helps the apricots and bread brown lightly in the oven.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the apricot surfaces caramelise as they bake.
Bread: Forms the base that holds the fruit and soaks up its juices.