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Dessert

For Jelly, Cream, Cocoanut, Chocolate, Etc

A simple cake batter that can be used for jelly, cream, coconut, chocolate, and other desserts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

For Jelly, Cream, Cocoanut, Chocolate, Etc

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.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs and water together.

  2. Gradually add the sugar, mixing until well combined.

  3. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then fold into the egg mixture.

  4. Pour the batter into patty pans.

Bake

  1. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  2. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
Provide structure and set the batter as they cook, while adding richness.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown as it bakes.
Flour
Forms the main structure that holds the cake together as it sets.
Baking powder
Releases gas when heated, helping the cakes rise and turn light.

The step that matters

Folding in the flour and baking powder. Overmixing once flour is added develops gluten and makes the cakes tough. Fold gently, just until no dry flour shows, so the batter keeps the air beaten into the eggs.

“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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