Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Cocoanut Cup 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.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the milk, lemon essence, grated nutmeg, and beaten eggs; mix well.
Stir in the grated coconut.
Add enough sifted flour to make a rather stiff batter.
Bake and serve
Butter square tin pans and line them with white paper.
Pour the mixture into the pans, filling them an inch deep.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Once cooled, cut the cake into small squares or diamonds.
Optionally, ice the cake for added flavor.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Nutmeg + wheattop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together359 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Butter + wheattop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,002 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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 give the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness as they set during baking, binding the batter.
- Sifted wheat flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown while creaming adds air to the batter.
- Grated coconut
- Adds moisture, chewiness and coconut flavor to the crumb.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter so it bakes evenly.
The step that matters
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. The batter is deep and rich, so underbaking leaves it gummy in the centre while overbaking dries it out. A toothpick test shows when the structure has set.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, nutmeg, egg, meat, wheat):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, nutmeg, egg, meat, wheat. 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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