Ribbox Cake

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.

1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together41,516 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together43,450 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

4. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together9,225 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked 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

Flour

Forms the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.

Eggs

Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the crumb.

Butter

Adds fat for tenderness and flavour in the creamed base.

Sugar

Sweetens the cake and helps brown the crust while creaming with butter.

Molasses

Colours the third batter dark and adds a deep, sweet flavour.

Baking soda

Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to lift the batter as it bakes.

The step that matters

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, egg, cream, molasses):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Raisinfits better
3. Figfits better
4. Currantthe original

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