Why it works: Sherry and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Tipsy Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cake
Cut the bottom of the sponge cake level to make it stand firmly in the glass dish.
Make a small hole in the top and pour in the wine mixed with the brandy to soak it nicely.
Let it soak for two hours.
Stick the blanched almonds, cut in strips, all over the cake.
Make the custard and serve
Make the custard with the sugar, cream, and milk, and pour it into the dish around the cake when slightly cool.
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.
-
Sherry + brandytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,209 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sherry + almondtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together517 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
-
Brandy + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sponge cake
- Forms the base that soaks up the wine and brandy and holds the shape of the dish.
- Sherry or raisin wine
- Moistens the sponge and adds fruity, aromatic flavour as it soaks in.
- Brandy
- Adds warm, strong flavour and helps the soaking liquid penetrate the cake.
- Cream
- Adds richness and fat to the custard, giving it a smooth, soft texture.
- Milk
- Thins the custard powder mixture and adds creaminess to the custard.
- Bird’s custard powder
- Thickens the milk and cream into a set custard through starch gelatinisation.
The step that matters
Pour the custard when slightly cool. Custard poured while very hot can soften or break into the soaked sponge and make it soggy. Letting it cool slightly lets it thicken and settle around the cake instead.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sherry, brandy, sugar, cream, milk):
- Almondthe original
- Cocoafits about as well
- Chestnutfits less well
- Walnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sherry, brandy, sugar, cream, milk. 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.
You might also like
Brandy Peaches68 recipes
Almond Sponge Cake26 recipes
Almond Custard22 recipes
Almond Wafers22 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.