Why it works: Flour and nuts are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,180 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Nut Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix sugar, flavoring, flour, egg whites, baking powder, and chopped nuts in the order given.
Pour the mixture into a greased cake pan and bake until golden.
Make the icing and finish
Let the cake cool before icing.
Beat the yolks of 3 eggs until light.
Gradually whip in powdered sugar and lemon juice, beating for 10 minutes.
Spread the icing on the cooled cake and decorate with halved nuts.
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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Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,180 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg 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
- Egg whites provide structure as the batter sets, and yolks give the icing body and richness.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Chopped nuts
- Add texture and a rich, toasty flavor to the cake.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into the beaten yolks to form a smooth, sweet icing.
The step that matters
Let the cake cool before icing. Icing a warm cake causes the icing to melt, slide off, or soak in unevenly. A fully cooled cake holds a smooth, even layer of icing.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, egg, lemon):
- Almondfits better
- Milletfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, egg, lemon. 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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