Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Blackberry 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).
Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, sour cream (or milk), baking soda, blackberry jam, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix well.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined.
Bake and assemble
Divide the batter into three layers and pour into prepared cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the layers cool before frosting with white frosting between each layer.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Blackberry + clovetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together212 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Blackberry + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together362 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set firm while adding richness and structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor, and creaming it with sugar traps air for lightness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps give it a light, fine texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour cream or jam to produce gas that lifts the cake.
- Blackberry jam
- Adds fruity sweetness, moisture, and flavor throughout the layers.
The step that matters
Gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined. Flour proteins form gluten when overmixed, which can make the cake tough and dense. Stopping once the flour is just incorporated keeps the crumb tender.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, cream, blackberry, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, cream, blackberry, cinnamon, flour. 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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