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 ↓
Roll Jelly 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).
Beat the egg yolks and whites separately until fluffy.
In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, and baking powder.
Add the egg yolks and water to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Bake and roll
Pour the batter into a greased dripping pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
Remove from the oven, spread with jelly, and roll up while warm.
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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Egg + sugartop 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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites and yolks provide the airy structure that lifts the sponge.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the baked cake its body and allows it to roll.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep the crumb tender and moist.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the batter rises and stays light.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Egg white foam holds the air that makes the sponge light. Vigorous stirring knocks out that air, so the cake bakes flatter and denser and may crack when rolled.
“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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