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 ↓
Soda 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Rub the butter or dripping into the flour.
Add salt, mixed spice, caraway seeds or currants, and sugar; mix thoroughly.
Dissolve the carbonate of soda in the milk and add it along with the vinegar to the mixture.
Bake
Turn the mixture into a tin lined with greased paper.
Bake in a moderate oven until golden brown.
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 + carawaytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,435 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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
- Carbonate of soda
- Reacts with the vinegar and milk to release gas, which lifts the cake and helps it rise.
- Vinegar
- Acidifies the milk so it reacts with the carbonate of soda to produce lift.
- Butter or dripping
- Rubbed into the flour to coat it and add fat, giving a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as the batter sets in the oven.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crust brown.
The step that matters
Dissolve the carbonate of soda in the milk and add it with the vinegar. The soda and vinegar react as soon as they meet liquid, releasing gas. Mix promptly and get the batter into the tin and oven without delay, so the gas is trapped and the cake rises well.
Swap the caraway
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, vinegar, milk):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Carawaythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, vinegar, milk. 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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