Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Hot Water 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.
Make the batter
Beat the sugar and eggs together until the sugar is dissolved.
While stirring, add the boiling water.
Sift in the flour and baking powder, then stir until smooth.
Bake
Flavor as desired and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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 + 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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Sugar + eggtop 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
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps tenderize the crumb of the cake.
- Eggs
- Provide structure and set the cake as they cook in the oven.
- Boiling water
- Adds moisture and liquid that helps the batter bake through evenly.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure as its starches set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when moistened and heated, lifting the batter as it bakes.
The step that matters
Adding the boiling water while stirring. Pouring the boiling water in slowly while stirring blends it evenly into the egg and sugar mixture. Dumping it in at once can cook the eggs in clumps and leave the batter uneven.
“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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