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 ↓
White 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.
Make the batter
Beat the butter until creamy.
Add the sugar and mix well.
Incorporate the yolks and then the whisked egg whites.
Stir in the candied orange-peel, mace, and brandy.
Gradually add the flour and mix until combined.
Fold in the currants and almonds if using.
Bake
Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan.
Bake in a well-heated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Mace + curranttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,791 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Orange + curranttop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,034 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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
- Fresh butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air that helps the cake rise and gives a tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Whites add lift and structure as they set, while yolks contribute richness and binding.
- All-purpose flour
- Its proteins set during baking to form the cake's main structure.
- Dried and sifted sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps hold air when creamed with butter.
- Currants
- Add fruity sweetness and chewy pockets throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Incorporate the whisked egg whites. Whites hold whipped air that gives lift; if they are deflated or overmixed, the batter loses volume and the cake bakes up dense.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, orange, brandy, flour, currant):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, orange, brandy, flour, currant. 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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