Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Take a piece of raised dough large enough to fill two good-sized pans, about an inch thick.
Mix one cup powdered sugar, two eggs, and butter or lard the size of an egg into the dough.
Add lemon essence and mix well.
Let the dough rise as you would bread.
Rise and shape
After rising, roll out the dough to the desired thickness.
Place the dough in the pans.
Let the dough rise again.
Top and bake
Brush the top with butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
Bake the cake.
Alternative dough
Mix one pint of good yeast, the same amount of sugar, eggs, and butter.
Add one-quarter pound or more raisins, whole or chopped.
Mix well and raise the dough.
Raise twice or three times before baking.
Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and sugar.
Brush the top lightly with a beaten egg to hold the sugar on.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Dripping | 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.
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + eggtop 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
- Raised dough
- Provides the yeast-leavened base that rises and gives a bread-like crumb.
- Yeast
- Makes the dough rise by producing carbon dioxide as it ferments.
- Eggs
- Add richness and structure as their proteins set during baking.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and browns the top as it caramelizes in the oven.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat that softens the crumb and gives a richer texture.
- Raisins (in the method)
- Add sweetness and moisture as they plump within the dough.
The step that matters
Raise the dough before baking. Yeast dough needs enough rising time to build gas and a light structure. Under-rising gives a dense cake, while over-rising can cause it to collapse in the oven.
“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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