Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Simnel 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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the beaten eggs and flour, then beat well.
Stir in the currants and candied peel.
Assemble and bake
In a lined cake tin, place a layer of the mixture, followed by a layer of almond paste, then top with the remaining mixture.
Bake for 2 to 3 hours.
Once baked, cover the top with almond paste, leaving a hollow center, and return to the oven until golden brown.
Decorate
When cool, decorate with crystallized fruits and pink sugar.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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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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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
- Adds fat and richness, giving the cake a tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Currants
- Add fruit sweetness and chewy texture throughout the cake.
- Almond paste
- Adds moisture and sweet almond flavor, and forms a layer that browns on top.
The step that matters
Returning the cake to the oven after adding the top almond paste. The top layer must brown without overbaking the cake inside. Watch the color closely, since the sugar in the almond paste browns quickly and the centre needs time to set.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg, almond):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg, almond. 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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