Name: Currant Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup lard; 2 cups sugar; 3 cups flour; 3 teaspoons baking powder; 3 tablespoons sugar; 1 large cup water; 1 box currants; 4 eggs beaten together; 1 egg

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 ↓

Currant Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Combine lard or butter, sugar, water, lemon or vanilla essence, currants, flour, baking powder, and eggs together.
Save the white of 1 egg, and add 3 tablespoons sugar for frosting.
Bake in a loaf cake pan.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

759Calories

20 gProtein

20 gFat

124 gCarbs

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
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Water	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.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. 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.

Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Currant + eggtop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Flour + curranttop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,077 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

Lard: Fat that keeps the crumb tender and moist as it bakes.
Flour: Provides the structure that sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter, making the cake rise in the oven.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps keep the crumb soft and tender.
Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the crumb.
Currants: Add fruity, tart flavour and sweetness throughout the cake.