Why it works: Egg and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 104,138 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Beat the whites of 7 eggs to a stiff froth.
Combine the beaten whites with 1 pint of pulverized sugar, 8 tablespoonful of flour, and 1 quart of nut kernels.
Bake
Drop a teaspoonful of the mixture at a time onto a greased pan.
Bake in oven until set.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Egg + flourtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together104,138 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together89,462 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + eggtop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together122,252 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 104,138 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites provide the airy structure that lifts and holds the cakes together.
- Pulverized sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps it bake to a tender, set texture.
- Flour
- Gives the batter enough body to hold its shape as the cakes set.
- Nut kernels
- Add bulk, richness and a nutty flavor to the cakes.
The step that matters
Whipping the egg whites to a stiff froth. Stiff, well-whipped whites trap air that gives the batter its lift. Under-whipped or deflated whites produce dense, flat cakes once the flour and nuts are folded in.
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.