Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Sugar 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. 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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until well combined.
Add the milk and mix thoroughly.
In another bowl, combine the flour, grated nutmeg, cream of tartar, and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until smooth.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 and give the cake structure as it sets.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake once its starches set in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps tenderize its crumb while adding moisture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda, helping the cake rise.
The step that matters
Stirring the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Adding the dry ingredients gradually and stirring only until smooth limits gluten development, which keeps the cake tender rather than tough. Overmixing can make it dense.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, flour, cream):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Jalapenofits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, flour, cream. 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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