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 ↓
Sour Cream Cake
Ingredients
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the beaten eggs, salt, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Stir in the sour cream until well mixed.
Gradually add the flour and baking soda, mixing until smooth.
Bake
Pour the batter into a loaf pan or gem irons.
For a spice cake, fold in raisins, cloves, and cinnamon before baking.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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.
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,287 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Vanilla + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,049 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as the cake sets in the oven.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture and tenderness, and its acidity reacts with the baking soda.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as the batter sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour cream's acidity to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and contributes to browning and a tender crumb.
The step that matters
Add the flour and baking soda gradually while mixing until smooth. Adding flour gradually and mixing just until smooth keeps lumps out of the batter. Overmixing once gluten has formed in the flour can make the cake tough, while the baking soda needs even distribution to rise evenly.
“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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