Why it works: Flour and sugar 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 ↓
Luncheon Cup Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the batter
Break one egg in a small cup and fill up with sweet cream.
Beat them together.
Add one small cup of sugar.
Add one and one-half cups of flour.
Add one teaspoonful of baking powder sifted with the flour.
Flavor with half teaspoonful of mace.
Bake
Sprinkle with colored granulated sugar.
Bake in gem pans.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Mace | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Flour + macetop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,974 recipes
-
Mace + sugartop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,096 recipes
Flour and egg 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 cup cakes' crumb together as they set.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps it set, adding structure and richness.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cakes rise in the oven.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the tops brown during baking.
- Sweet cream (in the method)
- Adds moisture and fat, giving the batter a tender texture.
- Mace
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavor to the batter.
The step that matters
Sift the baking powder with the flour. Sifting spreads the baking powder evenly through the flour so every cake rises uniformly instead of in patches or with bitter pockets of leavening.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, sugar):
- Jalapenofits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, sugar. 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.
More cup cakes recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.