Why it works: Flour and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Brown 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
Line a cake tin with greased paper.
Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Sift the flour, spices, and baking soda into a bowl.
Beat the eggs well.
Make the batter
Add a little of the egg to the creamed butter and sugar, then a little flour, and beat well.
Continue alternating adding egg and flour, beating well until all are used.
Finally, add the currants and pour the mixture into the cake tin.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1.5 hours.
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.
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Currant + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, when creamed with butter, traps air for a lighter crumb.
- Baking soda
- Acts as a leavening agent to help the cake rise.
- Currants
- Add sweetness, chewy bits, and fruity flavour throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Adding the egg gradually. Adding the egg a little at a time, alternating with flour, lets the butter and egg emulsify into a smooth batter. Adding too much egg at once can cause the batter to curdle, which can leave the finished cake heavy and coarse.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon, egg. 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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