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 ↓
Swiss Roll
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 sponge
Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick and a primrose color.
Gradually add the flour and then the baking powder.
Pour the mixture into a greased and lined flat baking tin.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until firm to the touch.
Roll and fill
Prepare a piece of kitchen paper sprinkled with sugar.
Turn the sponge onto the sugared paper and remove the greased paper.
Spread with warmed jam and roll immediately.
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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg 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 with sugar to trap air, giving the sponge its light, airy structure.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the sponge and helps the eggs hold air when beaten until thick.
- Millennium flour
- Provides the starch that sets during baking, forming the sponge's structure.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to help the sponge rise.
- Jam
- Adds sweetness, moisture and flavor to the filling inside the roll.
The step that matters
Roll the sponge immediately after spreading the jam. A warm sponge is still flexible. As it cools it stiffens and can crack when rolled, so the jam should be spread and the roll made without delay.
“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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