Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Spice 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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and gradually add the brown sugar, mixing until well combined.
Add the yolks of 4 eggs and the whites of 2 eggs, mixing well.
Alternately add the sour milk and flour to the mixture.
Mix the spices and baking soda with the last half cup of flour, then fold into the batter.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
Once baked, ice it with boiled icing.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Provide structure when set and add moisture and richness to the crumb.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake's shape as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and the molasses flavor typical of spice cake.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with baking soda to help the cake rise and adds tenderness.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that lifts the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the spices and baking soda. Folding gently keeps the air in the batter so the cake rises evenly. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make the crumb dense and tough.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, flour, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, egg):
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, flour, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, egg. 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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