Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Sponge Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the eggs until very light.
Gradually add the sugar to the eggs, beating continuously until well combined.
Stir in the essence of lemon, nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace.
Gently fold in the flour a little at a time, being careful not to overmix.
Bake and cool
Pour the batter into well-buttered small tins, filling them about halfway.
Grate loaf sugar over the top of each tin.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes for small cakes or at least 1 hour for a large cake.
Remove from the tins and cool on a sieve.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten to a light foam, they trap air that lifts and structures the cake.
- Flour
- Sets into the cake's structure as it bakes, giving it body once the batter is in the oven.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender crumb and browned surface.
The step that matters
Folding in the flour. Flour should be folded in gently and in small amounts. Overmixing develops gluten and knocks out the air beaten into the eggs, leading to a tough, dense cake.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, sugar, lemon, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter):
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Clovefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, sugar, lemon, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter. 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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