Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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 ↓
New England Lunch 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.
Make the batter
Cream together the butter and sugar until light.
Add the eggs two at a time, beating well between each addition.
Sift together the flour and baking powder, then add to the mixture.
Stir in the extracts and wine to form a firm batter.
Bake and finish
Pour into a well-papered shallow cake pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Once cool, ice the bottom and sides with white icing.
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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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + cinnamontop 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).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Sugar
- Creamed with butter to aid aeration and adds sweetness and browning.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and moisture as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes lighter.
- Wine
- Adds liquid and flavour to the batter, moistening the crumb.
The step that matters
Beating the eggs in gradually. Adding eggs two at a time and beating between additions keeps the emulsion stable. A broken batter can bake up dense or greasy.
“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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