Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Indian Pound Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Stir the butter and powdered sugar to a cream.
Beat the eggs very light.
Stir the Indian meal and eggs, alternately, into the butter and sugar.
Add the grated nutmeg, cinnamon, wine, and brandy. Stir all well.
Bake and serve
Butter a tin pan, pour in the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven.
Serve while fresh.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Wheat + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together359 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,002 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Eggs
- Add structure and lift by trapping air when beaten and setting during baking.
- Butter
- Provides richness and a tender crumb when creamed with sugar.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps form a fine, creamy base with the butter.
- Indian meal
- Gives the cake a coarse, grainy texture and body.
- Wheat-flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
The step that matters
Stir the Indian meal and eggs in alternately. Adding the dry meal and beaten eggs in turns keeps the batter smooth and emulsified, so the eggs hold air and the cake bakes evenly rather than separating or turning dense.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, wheat, flour, butter, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, wheat, flour, butter, egg. 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.
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