Why it works: Currant and chocolate work together. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 111 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Jelly-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.
Bake the Sponge Cake in long pie-tins, filling them no more than ⅓ inch deep, in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
Once baked, turn the cake upside down on a large piece of brown paper.
Spread a thin layer of currant jelly on one cake and place the other cake upside down on top.
Cut the stacked cakes lengthwise through the center, then divide them across into six equal parts.
Push the pieces about an inch apart and ice them with ordinary white icing, using a large spoonful on each piece.
Use any icing that runs off the cake again after it dries.
Make a horn from stiff white paper, fill it with dark chocolate icing, and pipe lines and spots on the cakes to resemble dominoes.
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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Currant + chocolatetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together111 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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