Name: Maple Filling
Ingredients: 1 cup maple syrup, heated; 1 cup chopped walnuts; 1 cup chopped dates; 2 cups chopped raisins; 1 cup shredded coconut; 2 cups cream (if too heavy, reduce amount); 1 teaspoon extract (vanilla or other flavoring)

Why it works: Coconut and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,294 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Maple Filling

Ingredients

1 cup maple syrup, heated
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped dates
2 cups chopped raisins
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups cream (if too heavy, reduce amount)
1 teaspoon extract (vanilla or other flavoring)

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the heated maple syrup, chopped walnuts, chopped dates, chopped raisins, and shredded coconut, and mix all ingredients thoroughly.
If the mixture is too heavy, add cream to lighten it.
Finally, stir in the extract.

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.

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.

Coconut + vanillatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,294 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Walnut + coconuttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together606 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Dates + coconuttop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together76 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Dates + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together218 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Walnut + datestop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together302 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Maple syrup: Provides the main sweetness and moisture that binds the filling together.
Dates: Add sweetness and a soft, sticky body to the filling.
Raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness to lighten a filling that is too heavy.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (maple syrup, walnut, dates, coconut, cream, vanilla):

Figfits better
Bananafits better
Cherryfits better
Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against maple syrup, walnut, dates, coconut, cream, vanilla. 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.