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 ↓
Small Nut Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cream the butter in a large bowl.
Gradually add the sugar and continue to cream together.
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl until very creamy.
Sift the baking powder with the flour.
Add the eggs to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
Stir in the flour and brandy until well combined.
Shape and bake
Shape the mixture into balls and place a piece of walnut on top.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden.
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.
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 pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Butter + walnuttop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,832 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it gives the cakes richness and a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cakes together as they bake.
- Eggs
- Add moisture and structure, and help bind the dough together.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps create a light, tender texture when creamed with butter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven, helping the cakes rise and become lighter.
The step that matters
Gradually add the sugar and cream thoroughly. Beating sugar into butter gradually traps air in the fat. These air pockets expand in the oven and give the cakes a lighter, more tender texture. Adding the sugar too quickly or stopping early can leave the mixture dense.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg, brandy):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
- Pistachiofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg, brandy. 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.
You might also like
Brandy Peaches68 recipes
Brandy Cream21 recipes
Brandy Pudding13 recipes
White Cake431 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.