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 ↓
Roll Jelly 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Beat the eggs well in a bowl.
Add the sugar and beat again until combined.
Stir in the cold water.
Sift in the flour and baking powder, then mix until smooth.
Add flavoring to taste.
Pour the batter into a large pan and spread evenly.
Bake and roll
Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden.
Remove from the oven and roll the cake while it's still warm.
Spread your choice of jelly on the inside before rolling it up.
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
- Beaten eggs trap air and give the sponge its light, airy structure.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that set the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the batter brown as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
- Cold water
- Adds moisture to the batter, loosening it for even spreading.
The step that matters
Rolling the cake while warm. Rolling while still warm keeps the sponge flexible so it bends without cracking. Once it cools, the cake stiffens and is more likely to split.
“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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