Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and powdered sugar together.
Add the beaten egg yolks and mix thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.
Make the batter
Add the flour mixture, coffee, chocolate, and almonds to the butter mixture.
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes.
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.
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Chocolate + coffeetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,497 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).
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Almond + chocolatetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,733 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Creams with sugar to trap air and add richness and tender texture.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and emulsify the batter; whites, folded in, lighten it and help it rise.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure once heated and set.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, making the cake rise and become light.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a fine, tender crumb when creamed with butter.
- Strong coffee
- Adds liquid for moisture and a deep, roasted flavour that complements the chocolate.
The step that matters
Folding in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air only when whipped stiff. Folding gently keeps that air in the batter; stirring vigorously deflates it, leaving a denser cake that rises less.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, chocolate, flour, coffee):
- Almondthe original
- Hazelnutfits about as well
- Cocoafits less well
- Walnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, chocolate, flour, coffee. 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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