Name: Blitzkuchen, Ok Lightning Cake
Ingredients: nine ounces of butter; nine ounces of sugar; nine ounces of flour; one-half pound of almonds; three-fourths pound of pulverized sugar; one teaspoonful of cloves; one teaspoonful of cinnamon; one-fourth pound of pulver- ized dry bread; one teaspoonful of baking powder; two-thirds cupful of butter; one-half cupfuls of sugar; 53 teaspoonful of soda; half teaspoonful of cloves; two cupfuls of flour; one cupful of stoned raisins; four whole eggs; twelve eggs; one teacupful of bread sponge; two eggs; salt; cloves; cinnamon

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,514 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Whites beaten to stiff froth add air and lightness to the batter.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, giving the cake a tender crumb and flavor.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the top brown during baking.
Almonds: Adds nutty flavor and crunch to the topping.

The step that matters

Bake very slowly. Low, slow heat lets the cake set through without over-browning the outside. Too hot an oven can scorch the surface before the center is cooked.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, almond, cinnamon, bread, raisin):

Nutmegfits better
Cardamomfits better
Clovethe original
Allspicefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, almond, cinnamon, bread, raisin. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Blitzkuchen, Ok Lightning Cake