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. 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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Dissolve the baking soda in the sour milk and add it to the mixture.
Fold in the beaten eggs, raisins, grated nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.
Mix until very stiff.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick 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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Cinnamon + clovetop 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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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten stiff, they add structure and lift to the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas, helping the cake rise.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tenderness.
- Butter
- Creamed with the sugar, it adds fat for a tender crumb and richer flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a light texture when creamed with butter.
- Raisins
- Add moisture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in the sour milk. Baking soda needs an acid to release gas for rising. Dissolving it fully in the sour milk spreads the reaction evenly, so the cake rises without patches of bitterness or uneven lift.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Lemonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove. 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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