Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick 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).
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, half the sugar, and half the butter with enough water to form a stiff dough.
Roll out the dough to half an inch thick and place it in a flat pan.
Top and bake
Dot the remaining butter over the top, then sprinkle with the rest of the sugar and the ground cinnamon.
Bake until golden, then remove from the pan and cut into squares.
Serve
Serve warm with coffee.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 structure of the dough that holds the cake together.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the cake rich and tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda for lift.
The step that matters
Bake until golden. Color is the cue for doneness, since the sugar browns quickly at high heat. Removing the cake once golden keeps it moist, while overbaking dries it out and can scorch the sugar on top.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, cream):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonthe original
- Jalapenofits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, cream. 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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