Name: Pound Cake
Ingredients: 1 pound (4 sticks) of butter, softened; 1 pound (4 cups) of flour; 1 pound (2 cups) of sugar; 2 tablespoons of wine; 2 tablespoons of brandy; 8 or 9 eggs (if small, use 9); 1 cup of currants, raisins, or citron (optional); Spices (optional)

Why it works: Brandy and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Pound Cake

Ingredients

1 pound (4 sticks) of butter, softened
1 pound (4 cups) of flour
1 pound (2 cups) of sugar
2 tablespoons of wine
2 tablespoons of brandy
8 or 9 eggs (if small, use 9)
1 cup of currants, raisins, or citron (optional)
Spices (optional)

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the softened butter in a large bowl.
Gradually add the sugar and continue to cream until light and fluffy.
Mix in the brandy and wine.
Beat the yolks of the eggs lightly and add them alternately with the flour to the butter mixture.
Fold in the beaten egg whites last.
If desired, add currants, raisins, or citron, and spices.

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.

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.

Brandy + curranttop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,057 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,427 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,645 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Wine + curranttop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,323 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

Swap the currant

The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, wine, brandy, egg):

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, wine, brandy, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.