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 ↓
Fruit Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).
Mix the batter
In a large bowl, combine the cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, mace, and citron.
Add the brandy, wine, and rose water to the mixture and mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a prepared baking pan.
Bake for 5 hours 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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 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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Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cloves
- Adds a strong, warm, aromatic spice flavour.
- Nutmeg
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavour.
- Cinnamon
- Adds a sweet, warm aroma and flavour.
- Citron
- Adds fruity flavour and moisture to the batter.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and flavour, and moisture to the batter.
- Rose water
- Adds a floral aroma.
The step that matters
Judging when the cake is done. Baking for a long time at a low oven temperature sets the batter slowly, so the center can stay wet even when the outside looks done. Testing the center with a toothpick shows whether the cake has set all the way through.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, brandy, wine, rose):
- Allspicefits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, brandy, wine, rose. 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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