Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Rich Rice Cake
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.
Mix the batter
Beat the eggs and ground rice together for 30 minutes.
Add the baking powder and caster sugar.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a baking pan and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,744 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + ricetop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,350 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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 that lifts the batter and binds it into a set crumb.
- Ground rice
- Forms the bulk of the cake and gives it a firm, tender structure as it sets.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the heat, helping the cake rise and become lighter.
- Caster sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the surface brown to a golden colour.
The step that matters
Beating the eggs and ground rice for 30 minutes. Long beating incorporates air into the eggs, which creates the lift the cake needs. Under-beaten batter bakes dense, while the air bubbles expand in the oven and set the structure.
“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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