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Carrot Cake

"Here's and old-fashioned carrot cake that's got more carrots than spice. Pecans can be substituted for walnuts."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 17 ingredients
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Carrot Cake

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 ↓

Carrot Cake

15 to 18 servings
Prep30 min
Cook55 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1485Calories
34 gProtein
79 gFat
163 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream Cheese1 oz (28g)99
Pineapple1 cup chunks (165g)82
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Vanilla + coconuttop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + pineappletop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together911 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Coconut + pineappletop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together651 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,721 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. 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 carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, vanilla, buttermilk, coconut, pineapple, flour):

  1. Sweet potatofits better
  2. Arrowrootfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Carrotthe original

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