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 ↓
Spice Cake
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and mix well.
Stir in the sour milk.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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).
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Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor in the crumb.
- Light brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and helps browning and a soft texture.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps give structure and richness.
- Sour milk
- Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.. Once flour meets liquid, gluten begins to form. Overmixing makes the cake tough, so mix only until no dry flour streaks remain.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, milk, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon):
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, milk, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon. 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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