Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Composition Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Beat the eggs until light and add them to the mixture.
Stir in the brandy, nutmeg, and wine.
Gradually add the flour and then the mixed fruit.
Beat the mixture well throughout.
Bake
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C).
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and give the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness as they set during baking, binding the batter with the fruit.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps hold air when creamed with the butter.
- Mixed fruit
- Provides moisture, flavour and sweetness throughout the cake.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and flavour and helps keep the cake moist.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture well throughout. Thorough beating distributes the eggs, fat and sugar evenly so the batter aerates and sets with a uniform crumb. Uneven mixing can leave dense pockets or streaks in the finished cake.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, egg, cream, brandy, wine):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Tarragonfits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, egg, cream, brandy, wine. 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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