Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 11,917 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the grated nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.
Stir in the sour milk.
Sift the flour several times, then gradually add it to the mixture until well combined.
Fold in the currants, raisins, and floured citron slices.
Finally, add the baking soda and mix well.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick 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.
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.
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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,027 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cinnamon + cassiatop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together116 recipes
Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).
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Cassia + clovetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together190 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,368 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to add richness and a tender crumb.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown and stay soft.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and give structure and lift to the cake.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as it sets in the oven.
- Sour milk
- Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda. Baking soda needs an acid to react and lift the batter. Mixing it in last and promptly moving the batter to the pan keeps most of the gas from escaping before baking.
Flavor stand-ins for the cassia
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, milk):
- Cardamombetter flavor fit
- Allspicebetter flavor fit
- Gingerabout as good a flavor fit
- Cassiathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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