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 ↓
A Good Pound 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
Cream the butter in a large bowl.
Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately, then mix them into the creamed butter.
In another bowl, combine the flour, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture, mixing well.
Beat the mixture for a full hour.
If desired, add the wine and mix until combined.
Bake
Butter a baking pan and pour in the batter.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for one hour, watching closely.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cake its tender, rich texture.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and emulsify the batter, while separately beaten whites add lift and structure.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that gives the cake its structure as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps tenderize the crumb while creaming aerates the batter.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture for a full hour. Long beating incorporates air and develops gluten in the flour, so overbeating can make the cake tough and dense. Mix until smooth and combined rather than working the batter for an extended period.
“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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