Why it works: Currant and rose work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 494 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Queen 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
Mix the flour, sugar, and currants in a bowl.
Wash the butter in rose-water and beat it well.
Add the eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately, to the butter.
Gradually mix in the dry ingredients and beat the mixture for an hour.
Fill and bake
Butter small tins, tea-cups, or saucers and fill them halfway with the batter.
Sift a little fine sugar over the batter before placing it in the oven.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.
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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Currant + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together494 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Flour + buttertop 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).
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Currant + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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 main structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender texture by coating flour and holding air during beating.
- Eggs
- Add structure and moisture, and their beaten whites trap air that helps the cakes rise.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust turn golden as it bakes.
- Currants
- Add sweetness and chewy fruit pieces throughout the cakes.
The step that matters
Gradually mix in the dry ingredients and beat the mixture for an hour.. Adding dry ingredients slowly keeps the batter smooth and prevents lumps. Long beating works air into the butter and eggs, which gives the cakes lift and a light crumb.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, rose, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, rose, 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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