Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Quaker Pound 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the sour milk and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cloves, and cinnamon.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until just combined.
Fold in the chopped raisins.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 50-60 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.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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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 + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and gives the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter bind and set as it bakes.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's main structure once its proteins set in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tenderness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a light texture.
The step that matters
Stirring in the dry ingredients. Once flour meets liquid, gluten begins to form. Mixing only until just combined keeps the crumb tender rather than tough and dense.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, flour, milk, egg, cinnamon, raisin):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, flour, milk, egg, cinnamon, raisin. 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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