Why it works: Almond and flour 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 ↓
Irish Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Beat the butter until creamy.
Sift in the hot sugar and mix well.
Add the egg yolks, then the beaten egg whites, and mix thoroughly.
Work the mixture for one hour, stirring continuously.
Gradually add the flour and mix until fully combined.
Add the fruit and bake
Just before baking, fold in the currants, almonds, and lemon or citron peel.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake the cake.
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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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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).
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
- Traps air when creamed and coats flour, giving a tender, rich crumb.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, creamed with butter, helps hold air for a lighter texture.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and moisture, while whites set the structure and add lift.
- Flour
- Its proteins hydrate and set during baking, forming the cake's structure.
- Almonds
- Add crunch and a nutty flavour that contrasts with the soft crumb.
- Currants
- Add chewy pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the fruit and nuts just before baking. Adding the currants, almonds and peel at the last moment keeps them from sinking to the bottom or breaking down while the batter is worked. Folding gently preserves the air trapped in the egg whites so the cake rises evenly.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, almond, flour, brandy, lemon):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, almond, flour, brandy, lemon. 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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