Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
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
Beat the eggs very thoroughly.
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the eggs and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, mace, nutmeg, and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the milk, until the batter is thick and will not drop from the spoon.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.
This cake can be enjoyed 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.
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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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 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).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake once its starches set during baking.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a lighter crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps brown the crust while creaming with butter aerates the batter.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter, add structure as they set, and contribute moisture and richness.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter to a smooth, pourable consistency.
The step that matters
Adding the dry ingredients gradually. Adding flour in portions alternating with milk keeps the batter smooth and well emulsified. Overmixing once flour is in develops gluten, which can make the cake tough and dense.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, nutmeg, egg, butter, sugar, milk):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, nutmeg, egg, butter, sugar, 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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