Why it works: Coconut and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,093 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
White Fruit 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter in a large bowl until smooth.
Gradually add the sugar, mixing well.
Add the egg whites one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, then fold into the mixture.
Gently mix in the grated coconut, chopped citron, and blanched almonds.
Bake
Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Coconut + almondtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,093 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + coconuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Egg whites
- Provide structure and lift as they set in the oven, holding the cake together.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake once baked.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds richness and tenderness through fat that coats the flour and creams with sugar.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a light, creamed texture with the butter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes lighter.
- Blanched almonds
- Add crunch and nutty flavor, with some fat that keeps the crumb moist.
The step that matters
Adding the egg whites one at a time. Adding eggs gradually and mixing thoroughly lets each one emulsify into the creamed butter and sugar. Dumping them in at once can cause curdling and a coarser, denser crumb.
Swap the coconut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, butter, sugar, almond):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, butter, sugar, almond. 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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