Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Jelly Cake
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).
Make and bake the cakes
In a bowl, stir together the beaten eggs, powdered sugar, flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda dissolved in water.
Spread the mixture evenly in two pans.
Bake until done, then turn the cakes bottom side up on a napkin.
Fill and roll
Spread jelly on the cakes, roll them quickly, and wrap in the napkin.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Provide structure and lift as they set, giving the sponge its body.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb once baked.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and contributes to a tender, fine crumb.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter, stabilising the egg foam and helping the cake stay light.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Rolling the cakes while warm. Baked sponge is soft and flexible only while still warm; if it cools before rolling, it cracks. Rolling quickly, with the cake bottom side up on the napkin, keeps it from breaking.
“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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