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 ↓
Found-Cake,
Ingredients
Directions
Mix half the flour with the butter, brandy, and spices.
Add the egg yolks beaten well into the sugar.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth and add them in alternate spoonfuls with the rest of the flour.
Beat the mixture for a long time and bake as soon as done.
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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites add lift and an airy crumb, while yolks enrich the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavour.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it sets.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps give it a fine, tender crumb.
- Brandy
- Adds liquid and aromatic flavour to the batter.
The step that matters
Adding the stiff egg whites. Whites must be beaten to a stiff froth and folded in gently, in alternate spoonfuls with flour, so the air they hold is not lost. This air is what lifts the cake, so overmixing or deflating the whites leads to a dense result.
“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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