Name: Fondant
Ingredients: 1 cup fondant; 1 oz unsweetened chocolate (for chocolate fondant); ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (for vanilla fondant); 2 drops oil of mint (for mint fondant); 2 drops oil of wintergreen (for wintergreen fondant); 4 drops rose extract (for rose fondant)

Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Fondant

Ingredients

1 cup fondant
1 oz unsweetened chocolate (for chocolate fondant)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (for vanilla fondant)
2 drops oil of mint (for mint fondant)
2 drops oil of wintergreen (for wintergreen fondant)
4 drops rose extract (for rose fondant)

Directions

Melt the unsweetened chocolate over steam from a kettle.
For chocolate fondant, mix the melted chocolate thoroughly with 1 cup of fondant.
For vanilla fondant, add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to 1 cup of fondant.
For mint fondant, add 2 drops of oil of mint to 1 cup of fondant.
For wintergreen fondant, add 2 drops of oil of wintergreen to 1 cup of fondant.
For rose fondant, add 4 drops of rose extract to 1 cup of fondant.

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.

Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Vanilla + rosetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together456 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla + minttop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together322 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Mint + rosetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together39 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Chocolate + minttop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together236 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Fondant: Forms the sweet, smooth base that each flavoured version is built on.
Unsweetened chocolate: Adds chocolate flavour and colour to the chocolate fondant once melted.
Vanilla extract: Adds a warm, sweet aroma to the vanilla fondant.