Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
An Economical Currant Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the batter
Beat the butter and brown sugar together until creamy.
Add the egg and continue to beat.
Mix in the buttermilk.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, mixed spice, and currants.
Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, beating continuously.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake for 1 hour or 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.
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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Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds richness and a tender texture.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a molasses flavour, and helps the crust brown.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to release gas that lifts the cake.
- Buttermilk
- Adds acidity and moisture, and activates the baking soda.
The step that matters
Gradually adding the dry mixture while beating. Once flour meets liquid, gluten starts to form, and over-beating makes the cake tough and dense. Adding the dry mix in portions and stopping once it is just combined keeps the crumb tender.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, flour, buttermilk, sugar):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, flour, buttermilk, sugar. 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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