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 ↓
Rolled Jelly 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.
Make the batter
Beat the yolks of the eggs until creamy, gradually adding the castor sugar.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth and fold them into the yolk and sugar mixture.
Sift the baking powder into the flour and gently fold it into the mixture along with the warm water.
Line a long baking pan with greased paper and pour in the batter to a depth of ¼ inch.
Bake and roll
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly baked.
Turn the cake out of the pan, remove the paper, and spread with jelly.
Crush the edges with a knife and roll up the cake.
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 yolks and whites give the sponge its light, airy structure.
- Castor sugar
- Beaten with the yolks, it sweetens the batter and helps stabilise the foam.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that set the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the thin sponge rise and stay tender.
The step that matters
Folding the whites into the yolk mixture. Folding gently preserves the air whipped into the egg whites. Stirring or deflating them makes the sponge dense and less able to rise, and the thin layer then cracks 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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