Why it works: Flour and caraway match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,435 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Sugar Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Gradually add the flour and salt, mixing until combined.
Stir in caraway seeds, ginger, or currants if desired.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a baking sheet.
Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly colored and thoroughly baked.
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 + carawaytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,435 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter 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
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cakes a tender, rich texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cakes together as they bake.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cakes and, creamed with butter, helps create a light, fluffy batter.
The step that matters
Creaming the butter and sugar. Beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy traps air bubbles that expand in the oven. Under-creaming leaves a dense cake, while the butter must be soft enough to hold air.
Swap the caraway
The recipe marks caraway as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Carawaythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg. 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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