Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Burgess Cake
Ingredients
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).
In a bowl, rub together the sugar, egg yolks, and butter until well combined.
Add the egg yolks, brandy, nutmeg, and cinnamon to the mixture and mix thoroughly.
Gradually add half of the flour to the mixture.
Make the batter
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until light and fluffy, then fold them into the batter.
Mix the remaining flour with the currants and gently stir into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter onto tin sheets and bake in the preheated oven.
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.
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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Brandy + curranttop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness by coating flour and sugar with fat.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps create a tender crumb when creamed with fat.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter, and the beaten whites add lightness and lift.
- Flour
- Provides structure as its proteins set during baking.
- Currants
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the cake.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and flavour that carries the spices through the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Beaten whites hold air that gives lift. Stirring them vigorously or too long knocks that air out, leaving a dense cake. Fold gently, just until no white streaks remain.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, brandy, nutmeg, cinnamon, egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, brandy, nutmeg, cinnamon, egg, flour. 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.
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