Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Strawberry Jam 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 oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream butter and half of the sugar until light and fluffy.
Color the mixture pink with color paste.
Beat egg yolks with remaining sugar until light.
Add yolk mixture to butter and sugar.
Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk and add to mixture with a little flour.
Fold in egg whites, remaining flour, and cinnamon.
Fold in jam.
Bake and serve
Bake in layers or as one sheet.
Cover with white or green icing and cut into squares.
Top each square with a fresh strawberry if in season.
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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Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Egg yolks and whites add structure and richness, and whipped whites help the cake rise and stay light.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets as the cake bakes and holds the crumb together.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to release gas, helping the cake rise and brown.
- Buttermilk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and a tender crumb.
- Jam
- Adds sweetness, fruit flavor, and moisture to the crumb.
The step that matters
Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. Baking soda needs an acid to react and release gas. Dissolving it fully in the buttermilk before mixing spreads the reaction evenly, so the cake rises without holes or bitter patches.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, butter, buttermilk, sugar):
- Cinnamonthe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Jalapenofits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, butter, buttermilk, sugar. 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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