Why it works: Flour and caraway match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,435 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pound Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter until smooth.
Gradually add the sugar, mixing well.
Add the beaten egg yolks and mix thoroughly.
Slowly incorporate the flour until well combined.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the batter.
If desired, stir in the caraway seeds and brandy.
Bake
Pour the batter into a buttered tin pan or small pans.
Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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.
-
Flour + carawaytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,435 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Rose + carawaytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together93 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Rose + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together560 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb once baked.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and adds richness and tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a soft, tender crumb when creamed with butter.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, moisture and emulsifying power that bind the batter.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to stiff peaks and folded in to lighten the batter and help it rise.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiff whites hold air that lifts the batter. Overmixing or deflating them while folding knocks out that air, leaving a denser cake.
Swap the caraway
The recipe marks caraway as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, rose, egg, brandy):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Carawaythe original
- Allspicefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, rose, egg, brandy. 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.
More pound cake recipes
You might also like
Brandy Peaches68 recipes
Brandy Cream21 recipes
Brandy Pudding13 recipes
White Cake431 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.