Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Rice Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Beat the yolks of 15 eggs for nearly 30 minutes with a whisk.
Mix in 10 ounces of fine sifted loaf sugar.
Add ½ pound of ground rice, a little orange water or brandy, and the grated rinds of 2 lemons.
In a separate bowl, beat the whites of 7 eggs until stiff.
Fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture and stir for 15 minutes.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a hoop and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30 minutes.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Rice + orangetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,067 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the batter and bind it with fat and emulsifiers for a tender, rich crumb.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam, they trap air so the cakes rise and become light.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps it hold moisture and a fine, even texture.
- Ground rice
- Provides starch and body that set during baking to give the cakes structure.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites are beaten to stiff foam that holds the air which lifts the cakes. Stirring them in vigorously knocks out that air and leaves dense cakes, so fold gently and briefly.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, rice, lemon):
- Orangethe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Limefits about as well
- Blueberryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, rice, lemon. 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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