Why it works: Flour and caraway match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,435 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Drop Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the butter until creamy.
Make the batter
Add the beaten egg yolks and mix well.
Incorporate part of the flour.
Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold them in.
Add the whisky and the remaining flour.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto buttered paper.
Bake until golden.
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.
-
Flour + carawaytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,435 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Butter + whiskytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together335 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Creams with the sugar to trap air and add richness and tenderness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cakes and helps the butter hold air when beaten.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the batter; whipped whites lighten it and add structure.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cakes as they bake.
- Whisky
- Adds a small amount of liquid and aroma to the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites. Whites beaten until stiff hold air that gives the cakes lift. Overmixing when folding deflates them, so fold gently and only until no white streaks remain.
Swap the caraway
The recipe marks caraway as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, whisky, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Carawaythe original
- Jalapenofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, whisky, flour. 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.
More drop cakes recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.