Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Queen Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the butter to a cream.
Gradually add the sugar to the butter.
Incorporate the eggs one at a time.
Mix in the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and bitter almonds.
Beat the mixture well for 30 minutes.
Bake
Pour the batter into small buttered tins, filling them nearly full.
Sprinkle finely-powdered loaf sugar on top.
Bake until golden brown.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Nutmeg + almondtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,115 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cakes a tender, rich crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that holds the cakes together as they bake.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the cakes and helps the creamed butter hold air during beating.
- Currants
- Add pockets of fruit sweetness and moisture throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Beating the batter for 30 minutes. Long beating traps air in the creamed butter and eggs, which expands in the oven and gives a light texture. Under-beating leaves a dense cake, while overmixing after the flour is added can toughen it.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, almond):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, almond. 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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