Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Curd Cup Cakes
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.
Make the batter
Beat the egg yolks thoroughly.
Add the sugar and dry curd, and beat until smooth.
Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Bake
Bake in unbuttered gem tins for 20 minutes at 350°F (175°C), with more heat at the bottom.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dry curd
- Provides the body and tender, custard-like crumb of the cupcakes.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and set the batter while whipped whites lighten it and help it rise.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites are beaten to stiff foam that holds air bubbles. Folding gently keeps those bubbles intact; stirring or beating them down makes the cupcakes dense and flat.
“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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