Christmas Cakes for Good Children

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. Flour + carawaytop 6% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together1,435 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together41,516 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together43,450 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Butter

Adds fat, which gives the cakes a tender, short crumb.

Egg

Binds the dough and adds structure as it sets in the oven.

Flour

Provides the main structure of the dough.

Cream of tartar

Acidifies the dough so it reacts with baking soda to help the cakes rise.

Baking soda

Reacts with the acid in the dough to produce gas that lifts the cakes.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, flour, milk, cream, caraway):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Raisinfits better
3. Figfits better
4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, flour, milk, cream, caraway. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.