Why it works: Brandy and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Tea-cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Rub the butter into the flour.
Beat the sugar with three eggs.
Reserve one egg white.
Mix the beaten sugar and eggs with the brandy.
Combine the butter‑flour mixture with the egg‑sugar mixture.
Fold in the currants
Roll out the dough.
Sprinkle currants over the dough.
Fold the dough.
Roll it out again.
Add more currants until a pound is incorporated.
Roll the dough to about ⅙ inch thick.
Shape and bake
Cut out shapes using a large glass.
Whisk the reserved egg white until frothy.
Brush the frothy egg white over the tops of the cakes.
Sprinkle fine sugar on top before baking.
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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Brandy + curranttop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Rubbed into the flour to make the dough short and tender.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the dough that holds the cakes together.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and structure.
- Fine sugar
- Sweetens the dough and adds a crisp sugared top.
- Currants
- Add fruit, chewiness and sweetness throughout the dough.
The step that matters
Rolling the dough to an even thickness. Dough rolled to a uniform thickness bakes evenly, so the cakes cook through without thin edges burning before the centres are set.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg, brandy):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg, brandy. 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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