Name: Fig Cake
Ingredients: 1 pound llgs icupful sugar i/2 cupful water boil 16 minutes; 2 cupful water boil 16 minutes; 1 cupful sugar 3 tablespoonfuls melted 2 eggs butter 1% cuptiils flour % cupfu; 3 tablespoonfuls melted 2 eggs butter 1% cuptiils flour % cupful millv v2 te; 2 eggs butter 1% cuptiils flour % cupful millv v2 teaspoonful soda iteaspoonfu

Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Fig Cake

Ingredients

1 pound llgs icupful sugar i/2 cupful water boil 16 minutes
2 cupful water boil 16 minutes
1 cupful sugar 3 tablespoonfuls melted 2 eggs butter 1% cuptiils flour % cupfu
3 tablespoonfuls melted 2 eggs butter 1% cuptiils flour % cupful millv v2 te
2 eggs butter 1% cuptiils flour % cupful millv v2 teaspoonful soda iteaspoonfu

Directions

1 cupful sugar 3 tablespoonfuls melted
2 eggs butter 1% cuptiils flour % cupful millv
V2 teaspoonful soda Iteaspoonful cream tartar
FILLING FOR ABOVE
1 pound llgs Icupful sugar I/2 cupful water
Boil 16 minutes, cool and spread between layers.
Mrs. Thompson.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

684Calories

19 gProtein

18 gFat

108 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
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 Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog]. 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.

Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).