Name: White Mountain -cake
Ingredients: 1 lb. pulverized sugar; ½ cup butter; 4 egg yolks; 1 cup sweet milk; 1 lb. sifted flour; 3 teaspoons baking powder; 6 egg whites; ½ lb. pulverized sugar (for icing); 2 tablespoons sweet cream; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 grated coconut

Why it works: Vanilla and coconut 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 ↓

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.

Vanilla + coconuttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,294 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, milk, flour, cream, vanilla):

Figfits about as well
Coconutthe original
Raisinfits about as well
Strawberryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, milk, flour, cream, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

White Mountain -cake