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Rhubarb Cake IV

"This is a delightful, lightly spiced rhubarb cake with a spicy almond topping."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and rhubarb match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 276 recipes mention both. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓

The recipe

1 - 8x12 inch pan
Prep30 min
Cook50 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease an 8x12 inch pan with a little of the butter and dust it with a spoonful of the flour.

  2. Cream the butter and white sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

  3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract.

  4. Whisk the flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon mixed spice and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg together. Add to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until smooth.

  5. Fold the chopped rhubarb into the batter, then spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

  6. Stir together the brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and slivered almonds. Scatter over the top of the batter.

  7. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden.

  8. Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Vanilla + rhubarbtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together276 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  2. Vanilla + milktop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,175 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Butter + milktop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Flour + rhubarbtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together638 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, milk, flour, rhubarb):

  1. Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
  2. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, milk, flour, rhubarb. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).