Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Raspberry Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and grated nutmeg.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
Fold in the raspberries gently.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes 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 + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 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 + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and moisture as the cake sets.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a light, fluffy creamed base.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter's acidity to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Raspberries
- Add moisture, tartness, and fruity flavor throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Mixing the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Mixing only until just combined keeps gluten development low, so the cake stays tender rather than tough and dense.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, flour):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Jalapenofits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, flour. 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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