Name: Honey Cake
Ingredients: ½ cup honey; 4 eggs; 1 ounce baking soda; ½ ounce ammonia (carbonate); ½ pound dark sugar; 4 cups water; 4 pounds flour

Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

Honey Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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 dough

Rub together the dark sugar, honey, and ammonia.
Add the eggs, then mix in the baking soda and water.
Gradually incorporate the flour until well combined.

Shape and bake

Roll out the dough and cut with a 3‑inch cutter.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Honey + sugartop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,932 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Honey + flourtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,637 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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

Flour: Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Eggs: Add structure and richness, helping bind the dough and set during baking.
Baking soda: Reacts with acidic ingredients to release gas, helping the cake rise and lighten.
Ammonia (carbonate): Acts as a leavening agent, releasing gas during baking to lighten the texture.
Dark sugar: Adds sweetness, moisture, and color, contributing to browning during baking.
Honey: Adds sweetness and moisture, helping keep the cake tender.

“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.