Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Emma's Jelly Roll
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until light and fluffy.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, mixing well.
Pour the batter into a flat pan and spread evenly.
Bake and roll
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Sugar + eggtop 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
- Beaten with sugar to trap air, giving the sponge its light, fluffy structure.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that set the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Whipped with the eggs to help build volume and adds sweetness and tenderness.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that works with baking soda to leaven the batter and stabilize the foam.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, mixing well.. Adding dry ingredients gradually and mixing gently keeps the foam from collapsing and prevents overmixing, which would toughen the sponge and make it hard to roll without cracking.
“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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